Rethinking universities as innovation factories

Abstract

In the process of developing new technologies from basic research, there is a critical link or leverage point that has the potential to transform the process of innovation and holds the promise to advance the world’s economies. That link is between universities and industry. Many have addressed this issue with a measure of success, and some have made outstanding progress. In most universities, however, there is an uneasy truce between faculties that are performing basic research and education, and those in and outside the campus that may be interested in applying and gaining economic benefit from the results of that research. Significantly different motivations and cultures have often created barriers (sometimes not realized) to effective cooperation and synergy. This paper addresses those cultural issues and barriers to effective collaborations and gives examples of successful university-wide implementations built around research clusters and open laboratories; business and engineering collaboration; and integrative and immersive learning. These tools have been applied effectively in several environments to create the basis for substantive partnerships and to establish entrepreneurial settings that foster a shared culture of innovation to the benefit of faculty members, students, and industry. The uniqueness of this approach is that it has been designed to be transformative and integrative across the traditional university setting without starting anew or creating a separate applied research environment.