It is certainly rare, but Numenta has been doing it for the past 6 years, and for several years before that at the Redwood Neuroscience Institute from which it

It is certainly rare, but Numenta has been doing it for the past 6 years, and for several years before that at the Redwood Neuroscience Institute from which it spun off. In doing so, Numenta undoubtedly stands on the foundation of significant progress in academia, but still has to do a fair bit of what one might call "research engineering."