How many companies formed the DIERS consortium in 1976?

• A. Three companies
• B. Twenty-nine companies
• C. Fifty companies
• D. Ninety-nine companies

Answer: (B)

The key idea is that DIERS was formed as a multi-company research collaboration, bringing together industry partners to pool resources for joint development. In 1976, thirty companies did not join; instead, twenty-nine companies came together to form the consortium, which reflects a balance between broad industry input and manageable coordination. That size allows enough diversity of expertise and funding to tackle meaningful projects, while still keeping governance and decision-making efficient. The other numerical options would either underrepresent the collaboration’s breadth or be too unwieldy to sustain active participation, whereas twenty-nine captures the historical scale of this alliance.