University – Industry Linkages and Engineering Education Teaching

Abstract

Performance of higher learning institutions, research organizations and industrial support organizations is on their recognition in providing solutions to the industry. The industrial solutions are based on the development of new products and processes, solving emerging problems, and the provision of technical services. Since the industrial support institutions are in engineering discipline, their performance is therefore dependent on the competence of the existing engineering education system. However, for the in-class competencies to be transformed into meaningful innovations, the industry needs appropriate University-industry linkages. The linkages have the role of providing a platform for the University community to practice their profession. At the same time these linkages are necessary for the University to secure contracted research work, which will simultaneously enrich the in-class teaching. A smooth undertaking of research leading to innovation in the industry requires a regulated environment that is predictable; accommodates and even encourages new developments in goods and services; protects intellectual property; and provides open, interoperable standards. Intellectual property rights play an important role in encouraging technological innovation: they encourage the research and development efforts necessary for new product and process development by allowing for the recouping of the initial costs of innovation; they can create market power that allows for above-normal profits, thus encouraging competition to be the first to invent a new product or process; and, since patents encourage inventors to disclose their new knowledge in exchange for protection from imitators, they increase the overall pace of innovation by enabling inventors to build on each other’s work. By taking a case study of the College of Engineering and Technology of the University of Dar es Salaam, the authors show the importance of University – industry linkages for engineering education. Recommendations for improving the linkages and its relevance to engineering teaching are also provided.

Keywords: Engineering education; University–industry linkages; Research and development; Innovation; Intellectual property rights

1. Introduction

1.1 Education and Lifelong Learning

Education and knowledge is a core element in to development since it will impart people with positive mindset and culture that cherish human development through hard work, professionalism, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovativeness. In its communication of 10 November 2005 [COM(2005)548], the European Union Commission has identified key competencies necessary for living and working in a modern research driven innovative society. The competencies are in communication in the mother tongue and foreign languages; mathematical and science and technology; digital; learning-to-learn; and cultural expression1. Digital literacy is important for its role in a wider uptake of the information communication technologies that are associated with modern simulation-oriented research. Modernization and restructuring of education system is important for providing these key competencies.

The European Union2 has indicated that lifelong learning influences three aspects of innovation: first, innovation as a creative activity, research and engineering work require input from highly educated personnel. Innovation involves the uptake of new technologies and processes, requiring workforces to develop new skills. Workforces with higher levels of basic skills are likely to be able to adapt better. Thirdly, innovation can be supported by consumer demand for new, sophisticated products. The customers that are building positive attitudes to change are supporting demand for growth and in a sense they influence customer-driven innovation. However, innovation in products require purchaser to learn new skills to use them, and so, the higher the general skill levels in society, the higher demand for such new products is likely to be.

Undergraduate engineering education experience should therefore be modernized to influence the uptake of lifelong learning. As domestic engineering students are energized by their undergraduate education experience, it enhances the possibility that they will be retained as graduate engineers and aspire to advanced degrees through the academic engineering research enterprise. Research universities should advance the frontiers of fundamental science and technology; advance interdisciplinary work and learning; develop a new, broad approach to engineering systems; and focus on technologies that address the most important problems facing the society.

In contrary to the developed countries, the difficulty with which developing economies can meet these requirements is apparent. For instance, Tanzania's engineering education is negatively affected by many factors that include the small size of the pool of quality students. As iterated in the University of Dar es Salaam’s five-year rolling strategic plan 2005/2006 – 2009/2010, this has been a result of the failure of the economy to sustain a quality primary and secondary education3. Consequently, there is a low level admission to secondary education, which is currently at 5 percent only and thereafter 15 percent of these students join A-level. Mfinanga4 showed a diminishing A-Level students’ performance indicated in Fig. 1. The deteriorating performance for A-level students as indicated by dwindling scores for division I and II limits the quality and quantity of potential entrants to all universities in the country. Taking into consideration of other competing non-engineering disciplines, it is apparent that the pool of quality students to join the engineering education is marginalized further.

Fig. 1: Students’ performance in A-Level


1.2 Excellence in Engineering Education

Excellence in engineering education is an important factor in maintaining competencies of engineering universities. The main competency expected from the universities is for their capability to produce engineers who will make the nation responsive to eminent societal problems and prepare them for their future engineering engagement5. Refocusing and reshaping the undergraduate and graduate engineering learning experience is necessary for meeting this endeavour. This will involve restructuring of engineering programs, reallocation of resources, and refocusing of faculty and professional society time and energy.

It is argued that it takes decades of continuous and dedicated improvement activities to impart excellence like the one from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT, Berkeley Stanford, and Columbia in the USA6, 7. All prominent universities are more than 100 years old. It is therefore important that concerted and enduring efforts are taken for imparting excellence in the existing universities. Incentive structures and appropriate curricula need be put in place for the universities to have a genuine interest in collaborating and imparting innovation in the industry8, 9.

1.3 Future Engineers and the Global Marketplace

The environment in which future engineers will work is strongly influenced by the global marketplace for engineering services. This is evidenced by the outsourcing of engineering jobs, a growing need for interdisciplinary and system-based approaches, demands for new paradigms of customization, and an increasingly international talent pool. The steady integration of technology in public infrastructures and lives will call for more involvement by engineers in the setting of public policy and in participation in the civic arena. Further, the explosive growth in recent years of foreign direct investment and international corporate alliances involving technology transfer and engineering cooperation requires cooperation among technical personnel based in two or more countries.

Engineering universities must therefore take these challenges into consideration by producing global engineers. A “global engineer” is defined as one who has the personal qualities, international knowledge, and technical skills required to work effectively in a range of international settings and work environments10. The global engineering skill set includes (1) language and cultural skills, (2) teamwork and group dynamics skills, (3) knowledge of the business and engineering cultures of counterpart countries, and (4) knowledge of international variations in engineering education and practice.

The Universities should therefore adopt a systems-oriented college curriculum that balances the “generalist” perspective and the “specialist” perspective. Such a curriculum should broaden the global engineer's focus while at the same time allow him or her to integrate the “deep” perspectives of a variety of specialists across several disciplines10. Further, a possibility of acquiring the global engineering skills is through on-the-job training through continuous improvement and nurturing by peers and management (mentoring). Language skills can be gained through schooling and immersion in the foreign environment.


1.4 Engineering Universities and Innovation

The National Academy of Engineering of the National Academies5 indicated that currently, the scientific and engineering knowledge doubles every 10 years. This geometric growth rate has been reflected in an accelerating rate of technology introduction and adoption. Product cycle times continue to decrease, and each cycle delivers more functional and often less expensive versions of existing products, and occasionally introducing entirely new technologies. Older technologies are becoming obsolete at an increasing rate. Recent and emergent advances, such as those in biotechnology, nanotechnology, information and communications technology, material science and photonics, and other totally unanticipated technologies will be among the changes with which engineering and engineering education will need to contend in the future. In order to cope with the existing pace of diminishing products’ cycle, businesses are therefore required to become more innovative while at the same time reducing their production cycles. However, innovation requires the engineering education to sustain meaningful research and development. The universities need to support the businesses in new product development and also for improving existing product and production processes.

2 Intellectual Property Rights and Policies

2.1 Intellectual Property Rights

For the universities to have a smooth undertaking of research and development leading to innovation requires a regulatory environment that is predictable; accommodates and even encourages new developments in goods and services; protects intellectual property; and provides open, interoperable standards. Intellectual property is a broad term that is used to describe the wide range of rights that are conferred by the legal system in relation to discrete items of information that have resulted from some form of human intellectual activity11. Intellectual property is protected through a number of special laws and public policies, and is categorized under patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the patent issuing office. In order to obtain a patent, the applicant must prove that the invention is useful, novel, and non-obvious, and provide a working model to the patent office. The term of a new patent is fixed to a limited period of time from the date on which the application was filed. Patent rights are usually effective in the territory from which the patent is registered. The right conferred by the patent grant is generally the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention in the territory. In Tanzania, patents are granted by the Government through an agency known as Business Registration and Licensing Agency (BRELA). BRELLA issues patents for a term of ten years renewable for two terms of 5 years each. Compared to patent issuing offices in the developed countries like Europe and USA, BRELA has received insufficient requests for patents registration. Mihayo12 noted that the registration of patents and intellectual property rights is marginalized due to the socio economic situation that did not put in place a regulatory and institutional framework for its wider adoption.

Patents play an important role in encouraging technological innovation leading to economic development13. In the first place, patent rights encourage the research and development efforts necessary for new product and process development by allowing for the recouping of the initial costs of innovation. Secondly, a patent can create market power that allows for above-normal profits, thus encouraging competition to be the first to invent a new product or process. Further, since patents encourage inventors to disclose their new knowledge in exchange for protection from imitators, they increase the overall pace of innovation by enabling inventors to build on each other’s work.

Typical patent costs include different applicable fees for filing/search, examination, grant, renewal, translation and agents. In order to attract and increase the number of patents it is important to institute affordable costs emanating from these fees. Due to the need of translating patents into languages of the different member countries in the European Union and associated with high renewal, and agents’ fees, registration of patents in Europe is more expensive compared to Japan and the United States. While the cost of a patent in Japan and the United States are € 17,000 and € 10,000 respectively, the cost in Europe is € 50,00014. The desired positive effects of patents can be met effectively when existing costs are made affordable to researchers and innovators.

2.2 Policy Framework for Steering Innovation

Coherent innovation policies are necessary for lowering barriers and to mitigate the perceived risks of failure to businesses. Governments need operate a range of a series of schemes for supporting investment in start-up companies, and in some cases operating seed financing schemes directly. The government funding need be used to provide incentives to private funds to invest in small companies where the minimal prospective funds might otherwise have discouraged them. For instance, the government need offer finance for supporting University spin-offs, some directly and others through private venture capital funds.

Fiscal measures are important in supporting innovation. Tax credits for companies’ research and development (R&D) spending are the most common in Europe15. The tax credit system is used in Belgium Austria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway and the UK. However, since it is difficult to define and measure innovation spending, it is viewed that R&D tax credits are not appropriate for small innovative companies which have relatively minimal research capacity. Consequently, Nordic countries and German provide targeted grants and loans in place of the tax credits.

Government policies can influence customer-driven innovation by liberalizing markets, by building positive attitude to change, and by increasing companies’ exposure to shift in demand. Furthermore, governments can boost demand for new products through their positive procurement policies, and by demanding and promoting appropriate standards for new products.

3 Engineering Curriculum

An effective engineering curriculum calls for interactive tutor-student and technological change model. The rapid changes in science and technology necessitate this relationship giving the beneficiary (candidates) a wider cognitive perspective, so that they develop breadth and depth in knowledge and understanding 16. In developing countries, the younger generation is faced with an ever demanding task to reach the state of knowledge achieved by others from advantaged counterparts from more developed part of the globe. More areas of study accompanied by deep understanding are coming in and knowledge requirement for employment has been of an increase. This scenario was different previously; a Standard IV leaver of the1950s could easily get a low skill demand job in industries and government offices. Currently the lowest marketable qualification is Form VI and in many cases with computer illiteracy. Moreover a person has to acquire a life-long learning in order to be a contributor to the development of his/her world. Molding a knowledgeable person requires coordinated efforts. Proper planning is of vital importance for a sound success educational system 17, 18. There are three fundamental reasons to justify the inclusion of education in national planning: The first is the role of education in production. Education generates knowledge, transmits the same and enables its application to the task of national development. National development planning involves the setting of objectives and economic growth targets which are themselves affected by factors such as the availability of manpower, the extent to which productive investment can be increased, growth in labor productivity and others. The major role education plays in production is in technical progress. This is an additional factor to such production inputs as physical capital, labor and natural resources. Technical resources could account for as much as 90 % of production. Education therefore provides not only knowledge, skills and the incentive needed by a modern productive economy, but also the necessary technology. A second role of education is in human resources or manpower development. This provides the society with the scientific and technological capability for furthering developments. The other reason for the inclusion of education in national planning is that education system could be a big industry, involving large numbers of personnel, programs and use of substantial material resources. Consequently, in most countries, a large proportion of the Gross National Product (GNP) is spent on education. This justifies the inclusion of education planning in the national planning system to avoid mismatch system.