The LGO Thesis and Internship Knowledge Sharing

 

• • LGO Thesis
    • Content review
    • Publishing requirements
  • Major internship and thesis deliverables
  • Knowledge sharing events and deliverables
    • Midstream Review
    • Knowledge Review
    • Project Brief

LGO Thesis

The content of each LGO thesis must be approved by the student’s faculty advisors in engineering and management, who ensure the academic requirements for the dual degrees are met, according to the MIT Graduate Policies and Procedures. An LGO student’s thesis must exhibit in-depth analysis of both engineering and management issues in an operations environment.

Content review

The student is expected to send the host company the final thesis by April 1^st of their graduation year. The company reviews the thesis for any confidential or proprietary information according to the definition and terms in the Host Agreement following the specified review period (typically 21 or 30 calendar days). The company should confirm that the review has started and send any requests for changes as soon as they are identified. The student must complete the revisions and receive re-approval from their faculty advisors in time for the formal MIT submission, which is usually the second Friday of May.

Publishing requirements

LGO theses are all published in the MIT D Space, a digital repository for MIT’s research, including peer-reviewed articles, technical reports, working papers, theses, and more. A copy is also retained by LGO. All LGO theses are copyright-owned by the student, so any request for use should be directed to the individual author.

Major internship and thesis deliverables

LGO internship hosts should be aware of the following important LGO milestones and deliverables. The table below summarizes the documents generated, their purpose, expected submission date and expected audience.

Document (submission date)	Purpose	Audience that will view the document
Identify Company Review Process (Feb-starts – Early March; June-starts – early July)	To confirm the document review process, duration and major stakeholders	LGO AIR staff
Project Scope Document (2 months into internship)	Define the scope, approach, resources required and expected outcomes.	Faculty advisors, LGO AIR staff, future LGO students (limited public disclosure)
Project Description Slides (2.5 months into internship)	Student interns present their projects midstream progress.	LGO Community including partners, faculty advisors, LGO students, and alumni (broad public disclosure)
Thesis Proposal & Agreement Letter (~1 month prior to internship)	Outline the intended content for the thesis and confirm stakeholders alignment between faculty advisors and host company	LGO AIR staff and MIT departments
First Complete Thesis Draft (Feb-starts – Feb 1, June-starts – March 1)	First full draft to faculty advisors and company supervisor. Faculty provide feedback on acceptable academic thesis content. Supervisor to provide initial IP review recommendations.	Faculty advisors, company supervisor, LGO AIR staff
Final Thesis (early May)	Final thesis document due to companies for IP review.	Defined by LGO Host Agreement and NDA documents, which supersedes all other agreements signed
Knowledge Review – Project Brief (late April)	Written description of final internship and thesis project impact.	LGO partners, faculty advisors, current and prospective LGO students (broad public disclosure)
Knowledge Review – Presentation (late April)	Presentation of final internship and thesis findings	LGO partners, faculty advisors, current and prospective LGO students (broad public disclosure)
MIT Thesis Submission (early May)	Final academic findings based on LGO internship and broad industry application	Published in MIT D-space – public repository for MIT authored research (broad public disclosure)

Knowledge sharing events and deliverables:

Midstream Review

Students return to campus approximately midway through their internship to participate in a mandatory Midstream Review. During this public knowledge sharing event, students present on their progress, make recommendations, note problems encountered, and obtain advice from review attendees, faculty advisors and program administrators. Students may also participate in leadership classes, partner recruiting and networking events and thesis writing workshops during their time on campus. The internship host company will review and approve the midstream review presentation prior to the event.

Knowledge Review

For a final report out, the LGO program hosts a virtual and public Knowledge Review event for the students to share the final outcomes of their project. Each student presents for 20 minutes with individual Q&A. The remote audience typically includes faculty advisors, company representatives, first-year students, and prospective LGO students. Presentations are reviewed and approved by the host company prior to the event.

Project Brief

In addition to the knowledge review presentation, students prepare a Project Brief (formerly referred to as a Use Case Summary) describing their project approach and impact, and how their learnings may be more broadly applied. The Project Brief is reviewed and approved for public release by the host company prior to the Knowledge Review event.