Industry-Academia Collaboration:

An Engineer's Perspective
UCEAO Conference
Columbus, Ohio
April 9, 2009

John M. Schneider, Dr. Eng.

Technology Consultant
Distribution Research and Technology
 Why Should Academia & Industry
Collaborate?
 Provides
an appropriate frame of reference
to Academia
 Identifies relevant issues and needs of industry
 Provides expert technical support to industry
and access to advanced analytical tools and
methods
 Source of latest thinking and new ideas
 Facilitates the assimilation of current R&D into
industry
 Develops the workforce of the future
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 Academia needs to…
 Develop an understanding of industry
needs and issues
 Better communicate specific capabilities
and their relevance to industry
 Actively seek collaborations
 Develop a sense of urgency with time
sensitive needs
 Develop an industry centric, albeit fair,
approach to IP
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 Types of Collaboration
 Industrial advisory board
 Provides industry perspective
 Multi-Industry/Multi-University Collaborative
 Address complex issues
 Broader resources
 Reduces individual funding requirement
 Student projects
 Internships
 Funded R&D

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 Types of Collaboration
Cont’d.

 Internships
 Students hosted by industry
• Source of new ideas
• Potential future employees
 Professors hosted by industry
• Develop an intimate understanding of relevant issues
and needs of industry
 Practicing engineers hosted by academia
• Access to advanced analytical tools and methods
• Facilitates the assimilation of the latest R&D into
industry
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 Types of Collaboration
Cont’d.

 Funded R&D
 Traditional approach
• RFP→Review→Award→Execute→Report
 Consultancy
• More responsive (minimal student involvement), less
expensive (facility access→reduced OH)
 Managed R&D Team
• Industry technical expert plays central role in course of
research
• One or more mid-term reviews, and redirections, as
required

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Technical Workforce of the Future
 Well versed in first principles
 Has natural curiosity and strives to develop true
understanding
 Appreciates multi-faceted nature of most problems
 Well-rounded education, however able to plunge deeply
into multiple areas
 Able to think and do
 Critical thinking skills
 Complex problem solving
 Prepared for life long learning
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Technical Workforce of the Future
Cont’d.

 Innately creative
 Able to think outside the box
 Has a knowledge of the past and present, but a
view to the future
 Future studies
 Superior written and verbal communication skills
 If it cannot be effectively communicated, it will likely not
gain support
 Good people skills
 Understands own limitations
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