This paper highlights a number of key issues in the development and execution of joint university-industry engineering projects. Government funding reductions have lead to decreased support of university research and economic forces have driven corporations to reduce or eliminate internal R&D centers. These are two driving factors behind the renewed ties between universities and industries. In developing a plan for a joint research project and when working together towards its solution, both sides need to be cognizant of their respective roles to ensure a successful partnership

Kurfess, T. R.

Nagurka, Mark L.

English

epublications@Marquette

Marquette Universitye-Publications@MarquetteMechanical Engineering Faculty Research andPublications Mechanical Engineering, Department of6-1-1997Fostering Strong Interactions Between Industryand AcademiaT. R. KurfessGeorgia Institute of TechnologyMark L. NagurkaMarquette University, mark.nagurka@marquette.eduPublished version. Published as a part of 1997 Annual Conference, Milwaukee, WI, June 15-18, 1997.Permalink. © 1997 American Society for Engineering Education. Used with permission.Sesssion 0575Session 0575Fostering Strong Interactions Between Industry and AcademiaT.R. Kurfess, M.L. NagurkaGeorgia Institute of Technology / Marquette UniversityABSTRACTThis paper highlights a number of key issues in the development and execution of jointuniversity-industry engineering projects. Government funding reductions have lead to decreasedsupport of university research and economic forces have driven corporations to reduce or elimi-nate internal R&D centers. These are two driving factors behind the renewed ties betweenuniversities and industries. In developing a plan for a joint research project and when workingtogether towards its solution, both sides need to be cognizant of their respective roles to ensure asuccessful partnership.INTRODUCTIONInteractions between industry and academia continue to increase in frequency. Thisgrowth is a result of the requirements and abilities of both parties involved. Many universitiescurrently suffer from cutbacks in government funding and are looking elsewhere for researchsupport. Simultaneously, corporations have reduced their R&D staff in an epidemic of “down-sizing” due to (generally, short-sighted) economic reasons. Many of these corporations still havesignificant demands in research and development services that cannot be met by their reducednumber of staff. This demand can be met by faculty members (and full-time researchers) atuniversities seeking to develop active research programs. However, researchers (and administra-tors) at universities must recognize that there are differences when working with industry, asagreements, expectations and time frames for corporations are substantially different than thosefor the government. Also, engineers (and managers) in industry must understand that universitiesare not corporate business units nor consulting firms. At a university, the primary objectives arecreation and dissemination of knowledge.This paper discusses some issues in developing a strong cooperative research effortbetween industry and academia. The paper is divided into two major areas, preparation andimplementation, each of which must be addressed if a joint venture is to succeed.PREPARATIONBefore an agreement can be reached and a project initiated, some background work mustbe accomplished. Preparation is critical in developing a successful working relationship with anyindividual or group. In this section three critical tasks are presented that foster the developmentof a strong foundation from which interactive research may be conducted. It is important to notethe symbiotic nature of the relationship, i.e., both sides (academia and industry) are necessary forsuccess and both should have significant input in all phases of the project. One commonlyaccepted view is to assume that industry will provide the funds and a technical problem, and thatthe university will generate the solution (e.g., in terms of a report). Such a philosophy is notoptimal, since there is much to be learned from both sides during the problem formulation asPage 2.205.12well as problem solution stages. As with any relationship, the success of a joint research effortbetween industry and academia is built upon trust. Both sides must believe that their partner iswilling to work with them and can be trusted.Identify NeedsThe most obvious part of developing a successful project is to identify the needs of theindustrial sponsor. Typically, sponsors have a problem (or a “family” of problems) that theydesire to have solved. (The problems may range from exploratory research ideas to appliedimplementation.) Under certain conditions (identified later in this section) the research problemscan be conducted by researchers at a university. However, it should be noted that a solutionshould not be the only objective of a joint project. Another important objective is education ofboth university and industry personnel. Furthermore, if a university research team solves a prob-lem for industry, the university’s role should not be to completely implement and support thesolution. That job should principally fall to the industrial sponsors. This must be clear at the startof the project.To achieve results useful for industry, the university must be actively engaged in educat-ing the sponsors as to the nature and capabilities of the solution (including state-of-the-arttechniques, relevant literature such as patents, necessary computer and hardware resources, futurepotential ideas culled from the research literature, etc.). Quite often the term “technology trans-fer” is used to describe this objective. To assure success in a project, the company must be ableto understand, implement, and support the solution. Technology transfer can take place in severaldifferent fashions, including on-site and off-site training. Researchers from the university canplay an active teaching role acquainting the corporate personnel about the research results. Thisapproach can be effective, although it warrants a significant time investment from both sides.When possible, the most successful technology transfer comes when the corporate sponsoremploys the graduate student who conducted the work (obviously, after the student has gradu-ated). This is, by far and away, the best means of technology transfer. Therefore, it is importantthat students participating in this work are closely connected to the sponsors. Such connectionsare also beneficial to the students as it provides them with an excellent head start in the jobmarket.While the needs of the corporation are (hopefully) satisfied by a solution to a problem andvia technology transfer, it must be made clear to the sponsors that the needs of the academicpartner are somewhat different. For the university partner it is key that the research conducted ispublishable. The publication of a thesis is essential for a graduate student to complete a degree(at most schools), while archival journal publication is important for the faculty advisor’s career.It must be made clear to the industrial partner that the research content of the work must beworthy of a thesis and that it will (upon completion) be published in the public domain. There-fore, the supervising faculty member must ensure that the work performed simultaneously aidsthe industrial partner and supports his/her academic career as well as that of the student.SchedulingOne of the most common mismatches between industry and academia is the duration of aproject. For industry, typical projects are on the order of 6 months to one year. Many managersneed to demonstrate results in such a short time frame to secure the funding necessary to supportPage 2.205.23a project and to be successful in their careers. However, most academic projects are on the orderof 18–24 months for a master’s degree and three or more years for a Ph.D. project. It is criticalthat the scheduling of a project be clarified at its inception and that both sides clearly define theirrequirements.In our view, it is ill-advised to pursue a project involving a graduate student when theproject has a duration of less than 9 months. Such a project is better tackled as an undergraduateproject since it probably would not have enough research content to warrant a thesis. If a shortproject does have enough depth to warrant a thesis, then more than likely, it should be treated asa consulting project pursued by the faculty member. (For a short-term project, this is an excellentmeans to build trust, and test whether a larger partnership would be worthwhile.) Asking astudent to conduct a high quality thesis in less than 9 months is an injustice to both the studentand the project.The best solution to the timing issue is to identify projects that match the academic timeframe. However, this may not always be the case. In such an instance, shorter master’s level proj-ects on the order of one year are acceptable provided that the student working on the project hascompleted one to two terms of graduate studies. For example, the student may have taken anumber of courses while supported as a teaching assistant (TA) in the first two semesters. Duringthat time, the student should complete the set of courses that enable him/her to concentrate onresearch during the span of the project. Furthermore, the advisor should work with the student tobuild the necessary basic skills required to conduct the research. A number of courses that wehave found to be useful for students working on industry projects include statistics, probability,manufacturing, signal processing and controls. It is also desirable to have the student serve as aTA in courses that will enhance research skills even further. For example, when preparing astudent to work on a machine tool analysis project, we have strongly encouraged the student toserve as a TA for undergraduate courses in the areas of manufacturing, signal processing andcontrol. By teaching recitations and grading homework problems, the student truly masters thematerial and attains a high level of competence.Proprietary InformationCompanies often request that universities engage in research of a proprietary nature.Although agreements can be worked out between the legal departments of a university and anindustry, we would discourage university researchers from pursuing fully proprietary work as itviolates the academic spirit of publication. As previously noted, the most tangible results ofresearch conducted at a university are publications. To complete an advanced degree where athesis is required, the thesis must be made public. However, in many instances, informationprovided to university researchers is proprietary and must be treated as such.The key to resolving this issue is an early understanding of what is publishable and whatis not. Well before any agreement is reached, the scope of the publishable research content (e.g.,the material that can be reported in a thesis) should be discussed in detail and understood by bothparties. This eliminates a number of potential future problems. It helps to clarify the goals of theproject to ensure that both the academic and industrial needs are met. Furthermore, it identifieswhat types of results will be put in the public domain (assuming a research contribution isattained). An early understanding provides the sponsor with an avenue to control the flow ofsensitive information. It also informs the researchers of the information considered proprietaryPage 2.205.34and sensitive. Without such an agreement at the outset of the research, significant difficulties canarise such as the sponsor requesting significant changes in a nearly completed thesis.A number of other approaches can be used to allay corporate resistance to publication ofsensitive information. Agreements can be crafted in which thesis publication is delayed aftercompletion of the work. Typically, the language of such agreements states that the thesis will bepublished no more than one year from its completion date. Another approach is to publish resultsrelated to more generic products and/or materials to avoid providing specific information such asactual materials used or tolerances or production rates.IMPLEMENTATIONOnce the research plans have been identified, the project can be conducted as most otherresearch projects. However, there are two critical tasks that should be considered when workingwith industry.Working TogetherIn order to ensure that the project is meeting the needs of industry, it is important that theacademic supervisor maintains close contact with the industrial sponsor. Clearly, research is an“open-ended” process (it has to be or else it is not research). As such, it does not have a fixedpath nor a fully known set of results a priori. Therefore, the advisor and student need to makedecisions as to the direction of the work. This is best accomplished with input from the corporatesponsor. All too often, academic curiosity leads to interesting results; however, these results maynot be the ones desired by the company. To this end, communication is critical and should hap-pen frequently, ensuring that that project is addressing the questions posed by the sponsor as wellas meeting the requirements for the academic institution.Supervision of StudentsIf at all possible, students (and their advisors) should spend some time at the corporatesponsor’s facility. It is most convenient if this facility (e.g., manufacturing plant, corporate head-quarters, etc.) is local. In this case, the student should spend a day or two per week at the spon-soring facility. This will provide the student with a thorough understanding of the objectives anddirection of the research as well as excellent resources (including access to key individuals).Furthermore, as schedules for industry sponsored projects are usually fixed, it will beimportant to closely supervise the student to keep the project on schedule. If a project is to becompleted in one year, then it may not be acceptable to the sponsor to have it extended by amonth or two. Often the project is only a small part of a larger set of goals and it must becompleted on time in order to be coordinated with other goals. In academia, a student may takean extra term to finish his thesis and may be funded as a TA or may even take a job and completewriting the thesis while working. This may be acceptable from an academic perspective, but suchflexibility is often not a possibility for industry.PLANNING FOR THE FUTUREIn closing, it seems appropriate to mention a few issues to be considered in developing along-term relationship between academia and industry. First, as projects are being completed,both sides should be in close communication, exchanging information and being assured that thePage 2.205.45project goals are being met. As a project is nearing completion, the two partners should be layingout the next phase of the project. If the sponsor is pleased with the work, he should seriouslyconsider the possibility of hiring the student. (It is not often that an employer and employee havethe opportunity to evaluate each other for one year before making hiring and career decisions,respectively.) In communication with the sponsor, it is critical that the faculty member does notsolely represent his individual research capabilities, but those of the entire university (and evenexperts elsewhere). No individual can be an expert in all areas of interest to industry; however, asingle contact at a university can be a conduit to a number of experts.Universities are capable of conducting high quality research for industry. They canprovide powerful and cost effective research facilities if utilized properly. Engineering academicinstitutions continue to state that they are interested in real world problems; therefore, they mustmeet the needs of industry. However, industry and academia are two significantly different envi-ronments and must be integrated in a careful manner with sensitivities to the realities of bothsides. If such a “marriage” between the two is achieved, the results can be mutually beneficial forboth the parties. The outcome of collaborations include cost effective research for the industrialsponsor, real-world research projects for the faculty member and students, and a well groundedthesis as well as excellent experience for students. All in all, joint university-industry collabora-tive research projects can be viewed as “win-win” situations when initiated and executed in theappropriate fashion.ACKNOWLEDGMENTThe authors thank the reviewers for their helpful suggestions.BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATIONProfessor Thomas Kurfess received his S.B., S.M. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering fromM.I.T. in 1986, 1987 and 1989, respectively. He also received an S.M. degree from M.I.T. in electrical engineeringand computer science in 1988. Following graduation, he joined Carnegie Mellon University where he rose to therank of Associate Professor. In 1994 he moved to the Georgia Institute of Technology where he became an AssociateProfessor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. His research work focuses on the designand development of high precision manufacturing and metrology systems. In 1992 he was awarded a NationalScience Foundation Young Investigator Award, and in 1993 he received the National Science FoundationPresidential Faculty Fellowship Award. He is a registered Professional Engineer, and is active in several engineeringsocieties, including ASEE, ASME, ASPE, IEEE, NSPE and SME. He is currently serving as a Technical AssociateEditor of the SME Journal of Manufacturing Systems, and Associate Editor of the ASME Journal of DynamicSystems, Measurement and Control.Professor Mark Nagurka received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering and AppliedMechanics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 and 1979, respectively, and his Ph.D. degree in MechanicalEngineering from M.I.T. in 1983. Following graduation, he was an Assistant and then Associate Professor ofMechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, where he taught courses in the area of system dynamics and control. InJune 1994 Dr. Nagurka became a Senior Research Engineer at Carnegie Mellon Research Institute (CMRI), wherehe was actively engaged in R&D projects in the area of transportation. In August 1996, Dr. Nagurka joinedMarquette University, where he teaches courses in system dynamics and mechanical measurements &instrumentation. His research work focuses on the development and integration of control methods into practicalmechanical systems. Professor Nagurka is a registered Professional Engineer, and is active in several engineeringsocieties, including ASME and IEEE. He is a Technical Editor of the Applied Mechanics Reviews, and served asTechnical Associate Editor of the IEEE Control Systems Magazine.Page 2.205.5

Fostering Strong Interactions Between Industry and Academia

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Fostering Strong Interactions Between Industry and Academia

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