The I-MRSEC has established close collaborations with industry and national labs, to expedite adoption of ground breaking technologies, stimulate new ideas, and also to provide career training opportunities for MRSEC participants. Collaborations with companies such as Western Digital, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, IBM, and Lam have enriched research activities, as well as helped prepare MRSEC students and postdocs for industry career paths through interactive events and seminars. National lab collaborations include nearby Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Lab, Army Research Laboratory, US Naval Research Lab, Los Alamos National Laboratory, NIST, and NREL; these connections have helped create valuable career panels and seminars on this career path as well. The I-MRSEC also hosts interactive events on campus for materials characterization companies and local industry during an interactive poster session each summer at the start of MRL’s annual Advanced Materials Characterization workshop.