INDUSTRIAL FELLOWSHIPS
If the manufacturer elects to refer his problem to the university or
technical school—and because of the facilities for research to be had in
certain institutions, industrialists are following this plan in constantly
increasing numbers—such reference may take the form of an industrial
fellowship and much has been said and may be said in favor of these
fellowships. They allow the donor to keep secret for three years the results
secured, after which they may be published with the donor's permission.
They also secure to him patent rights. They give highly specialized
training to properly qualified men, and often secure for them
permanent positions and shares in the profits of their discoveries. It
should be obvious at the outset that a fellowship of this character can
be successful only when there are close confidential relations obtaining
between the manufacturer and the officer in charge of the research; for
no such cooperation can be really effective unless based upon a thorough
mutual familiarity with the conditions and an abiding faith in the integrity
and sincerity of purpose of each other. It is likely to prove a poor
investment for a manufacturer to seek the aid of an investigator if he is
unwilling to take such expert into his confidence and to familiarize him
with all the local and other factors which enter into the problem from
a manufacturing standpoint.
