Technology institutions (TIs) traditionally rely on industry for funding basic research, generating researchable problems and commercializing their R&D, while industrial firms traditionally rely on TIs for basic research and solutions to problems beyond their R&D capabilities. Intense firm – TI interactions in joint R&D projects also lead to both anticipated and unanticipated knowledge building and transfer across participating organizations which widen the scope of their technological and commercial activities. The type and scope of knowledge building depends on the mode of project process adopted. Synthesizing from several in depth project case studies, this paper proposes a typological theory based model, which traces the process of knowledge building in three identified ideal types of effective project process in industry – TI joint R&D projects, labeled Contracted Technology Development, Interactive Technology Transfer and Joint Technology Development. These models can enable practitioners in understanding and initiating effective knowledge development processes in such projects.