Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) has established Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. (MERL) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., which is MELCO's first research laboratory outside Japan. MERL operates as a fundamental research facility focusing on advanced computer applications in preparation for the coming century. In this article the author explains the laboratory's background and presents the scope and research objectives of the facility in the context of MELCO's overall research and development activities.