Steve Weikal
Industry chair of the Real Estate Transformation Lab at The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Real Estate
There is a growing number of academic institutions with proptech programs, but few boast the longevity and real estate industry connections of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Real Estate in MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning.
Established 40 years ago to advance research on the global commercial real estate industry and to train potential industry leaders, the center contains the Real Estate Transformation Lab.
Steve Weikal is the industry chair of that lab and teaches a course on proptech.
The lab focuses on how emerging technologies move from the laboratory to mainstream industry adoption. Its research explores key themes such as city transformation, the future of work, digital twins and integration platforms, mixed reality, off-site manufacturing, real estate resiliency, and the growing impact of AI on the built environment.
“We engage globally with the proptech, contech and venture capital communities, which we view as essential catalysts for industry transformation,” said Weikal. “Through the lab, we aim to strengthen the dialogue between thought leaders and decision-makers, accelerating the adoption of innovation across the real estate ecosystem.”
MIT’s lab also focuses on systems thinking for real estate, including expertise that is focused beyond the asset. That expertise can come from the university’s nanotechnology department, the material sciences department and the concrete sustainability hub.
“All of these really smart people who don’t necessarily know about real estate,” Weikal said in an October interview with the Commercial Observer. “MIT was the first one-year program, and it was for mid-level career, mid-level real estate professionals. We continue to support both the research side, and, because it is MIT, a tech lens. But now it’s a deeply technical lens. We now teach data science. I teach a proptech course with [lab leader] James Scott, and we are adding that to the portfolio of training.
“It’s all to prepare the next generation of leaders for this new landscape of the real estate industry going forward.”
