Collaborating with universities to Create Career-ready graduates

Universities call on technology and curricula to drive the next generation of innovation

Nations looking to sharpen their economic advantage in today’s hypercompetitive global marketplace start by developing the strongest, best equipped, most sustainable workforce possible. Higher education, powered by technology, is a potent instrument of change in that effort and the single most effective means for inspiring and nurturing the innovative minds and businesses that an economy requires to flourish.

More than ever, higher education relies on technology to reach and empower students. From the classroom to the lab and beyond, technology delivers the required mobility, security, and computational muscle. Emerging software solutions and new platforms, such as wearable technology and smart sensors, are joining laptops, tablets, and high-performance supercomputers in helping open up new avenues of learning, investigation, and innovation.

Technology, combined with development imperatives such as critical thinking, entrepreneurial skills, and a strong foundation in math and science, empowers students to expand their individual impact and tackle global problems across the planet. These same technologies and talents also have a multiplier effect, growing the opportunities to put those skills to work to economically empower more people around the world.

Narrowing the skills gap through higher educationA number of global drivers are dramatically transforming how we understand and approach work, from the types of jobs that are available to how we prepare for those jobs. An aging population, global connectivity, and growing processing power are among the converging forces reshaping employment and the skills we will need to compete in the new knowledge economy.

Higher education is a key engine for new ideas and thinking to make the most of these opportunities. Evolving fields of expertise such as security and privacy, data analytics, interaction design, and the Internet of Things (IoT) represent important focus areas today. For the promise to be fully realized, universities must keep pace to ensure students develop a mastery in these new disciplines that they can then bring to a changing workforce.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) represent an especially critical skills gap. Occupations informed by these subject areas are projected to grow by 17 percent by 2018, compared to 9.8 percent growth for non-STEM occupations.1 Current estimates claim that 15 of the 20 fastest growing careers require significant math and/or science training.2 By 2020, there will be more than 1.4 million computing-related job openings in the U.S. alone. But at current rates, with the number of STEM-related college graduates in the U.S. falling, only about 30 percent of those jobs will be filled by U.S. graduates.3

Today’s university professors and administrators understand that we must successfully address the skills gap to advance social progress and economic opportunity. In a recent McKinsey study, for example, nearly 40 percent of employers claimed lack of skills as the principal reason for entry-level vacancies.4 Approximately 27 percent reported leaving a job open in the past year due to a shortage of candidates with the necessary skills.5

Readying students also means preparing faculty. In Europe, 74 percent of postsecondary education providers were confident that their graduates were prepared for work, but only 38 percent of students and 35 percent of employers agreed.5 And while the McKinsey study concentrated on youth in the European Union, similar issues plague older age groups and other regions, including the U.S.

Progress is being achieved. In 2006, for example, less than 5 percent of universities offered courses on parallel programming. Through a concerted and persistent effort, today nearly all U.S. universities offer parallel programming graduate courses with more than 50 percent offering undergraduate courses.

But how do we extend these inroads to other important subjects from IoT to security to big data? Working with a diverse set of organizations from governments and development agencies to nonprofits and multinational corporations, universities are endeavoring to foster new thinking and new skills by, among other things, pursuing appropriate standards and developing the right curricula. The aim is to create in-demand graduates ready and able to use technology to put those ideas into action for the common good.

Driving research through higher education Universities conduct approximately 55 percent of the basic research in the United States, with business and industry supplying less than 20 percent.10 The U.S. government is another important contributor to R&D. These efforts are an essential element in scientific advancement and the first step in the innovation process. Discoveries resulting from this research directly impact the global economy, producing innovations in healthcare, energy, education, communications, entertainment, transportation, manufacturing, and defense, among many others.

Generating new companies and jobs

Research also creates jobs. This includes direct employment ranging from the principal researcher and research team to lab technicians and others who help support the work. University research sits at the core of knowledge-intensive industries including biotech, telecommunications, and information technology, while the innovations that flow from the research have led to the creation of numerous companies ranging from Genentech and Cisco Systems to SAS and Google.10

Expanding local economic empowerment

Institutions of higher learning are often active participants in their local economies as well, playing an important role in bringing the results of their research to the public. Often, this means serving as business incubators that provide the ecosystem necessary to move a company from concept to reality, including mentoring, technical, legal, and business support. Consider that the University of Southern California alone has spawned 24 startups, which now employ some 500 full-time employees, more than half in Los Angeles.10

The global decline in STeM In the U.S., despite engineering’s high median earnings, less than 20 percent of students select a STEM path, with 38 percent of those students changing their majors away from STEM before they graduate.6 And of those who do go on to pursue a college major in STEM, only about half choose to work in a STEM-related career.7

As a result, the U.S. now ranks 27th in mathematics and 20th in science, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).6 The World Economic Forum puts the United States at 52nd in the quality of mathematics and science education.8

Countries across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) are also suffering from low achievement and low interest among students in STEM and STEM-related careers. The STEM skills gap in European countries is widening compared to other regions across the globe. In Asia, STEM students account for up to 20 percent of the student population; in Europe, this percentage amounts to only around 2 percent.9

Well-known are the excellent track records of schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University in interacting with the local community to create new business enterprises. MIT and its laboratories have been important starting points for many startup companies in the greater Boston area, producing what is often referred to as the “Route 128 phenomenon.”

These startups have made a considerable contribution to economic growth in Massachusetts. The Bank of Boston once estimated that MIT spin-offs contributed $10 billion annually and 300,000 jobs to the Massachusetts economy.11 Meanwhile, technology originating from research at Stanford University has fueled the growth of many companies in California’s Silicon Valley. A 2012 study estimates that companies formed by Stanford entrepreneurs generate world revenues of $2.7 trillion annually and have created 5.4 million jobs since the 1930s.12

The global impact of academic R&D

Successful university spin-offs are not confined to the U.S. In Sweden, Chalmers University produces 10 to 15 spin-offs each year, many of them small

consulting and computer companies.11 The companies contribute $100 million to the local economy each year.11 In the United Kingdom, many of the 450 high-tech companies around Cambridge University started as university spin-offs. They provide more than half of the manufacturing jobs in the region.11

Many Asian universities have followed suit thanks to legislation modeled on the U.S. Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, which institutionalized the intellectual property (IP) rights of American universities with regard to federally funded research.

It is clear that higher education, in collaboration with the right technology partners like Intel, can make a real difference, creating new opportunities for universities, the communities in which they reside, and the wider world.

Intel and its focus on higher education

Intel is committed to helping universities advance their institutional mission by giving their students the technology and entrepreneurial know-how to innovate and lead. Bringing deep experience and a breadth of technology solutions, Intel supports the full range of higher education needs from curricula development to mobile

learning to computationally demanding research, equipping institutions to attract top-flight students and faculty, and compete for valuable grant dollars.

Collaborating with facultyIntel engages with professors at major universities to support scalable, open-source curricula and skill-set development, drawing on its nearly half a century of innovation leadership. In this way, Intel helps equip faculty to deliver the most up-to-date information possible when teaching subjects related to mobile and embedded applications, cloud computing, parallel computing, manufacturing technology, and other emerging technologies.

By helping identify where technology and the technology marketplace are going, Intel is able to support professors as they prepare students to thrive in today’s knowledge economy.

Security/Privacy Enable the development of more secure environments through technology, policy, standards, and open-source curricula development. By inspiring students to create secure code at the earliest stages of their education, they can enjoy critical competitive advantages early in their careers.

Manycore Promote and support the inclusion of code parallelization in curricula from the earliest levels of programming instruction through graduate courses. Drive curricula and projects that help students realize the potential from multicore processing and high performance computing.

Internet of Things/Embedded Advance understanding of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the role embedded technology plays in innovation across markets and through contests, maker fairs, curricula, and other means. Unlocking the promise of IoT will require a blending of skills to provide practical, efficient, and secure IoT solutions.

Interaction Design Ignite new thinking to tackle complex user interaction challenges that create new opportunities to address user needs, advance business goals, and transform how humans engage technology.

Big Data Expand big data curricula by working with leading universities to develop open-sourced courses, labs, and materials around machine learning, analytics, visualization, and databases.

higher educaTion: inTel PrioriTieS

Working with universitiesIntel offers grants for hundreds of advanced technology research projects worldwide. In addition to working with faculty in more than 90 countries, Intel works with students to pursue technology innovations able to address opportunities in a range of industries from agriculture to zoology, and beyond.

Intel’s global higher education programs touch approximately 400 universities, and involve professors, students, and governments. Some programs, including those focused on Intel® Galileo, engage as many as 2,000 universities around the world. These efforts help drive innovation, which in turn builds a diverse pipeline of technical talent and promotes global economic growth and innovation.

Investing in students

Intel has worked for decades to improve education globally, investing more than $1 billion in the past decade alone, and continuing to invest at a rate of approximately $100 million a year.

Intel’s investment in university students begins in K-12 through extensive resources designed to foster an interest in STEM. Through its higher education efforts, Intel engages academia through research, curricula, fellowships, and contests to augment student learning and faculty research partnerships.

Intel’s higher education effort is composed of three divisions:

• The University Program Office (UPO) — drives overall relationship with HE partners. The group collaborates with universities globally to create and update curriculum, support student contests, and connect with top PhD students.

• The University Research Office (URO) — collaborates with academic researchers and funds grants to explore new breakthrough technologies.

• The University Collaborative Office (UCO) — runs large research centers worldwide to define the future of a variety of fields, including embedded systems, sustainable cities, and security.

Catalyzing government, industry, and NGOsIntel seeks to bring government, industry, and NGOs together with academia to ignite innovation and strengthen economies. Such relationships not only help build a strong technical base in a country, they also empower students to take their new skills and push the boundaries of what’s possible on a global scale.

Connecting academia to technology solution expertsIntel works with professors and university administrators to design solutions for educational implementations. Drawing on a deep reservoir of knowledge and experience, Intel offers guidance on the latest technology, best practices, and a wide array of relevant subjects, including cloud computing, configuring datacenters, building network campuses, mobile technology, and making the most of big data.

Filling the pipeline. Expanding opportunity.

Today, Intel has more than 3,000 job openings around the globe. Many of these positions require degrees in engineering disciplines. Worldwide, Intel currently employs 9,200 masters of science, 5,300 PhDs (or equivalent), and 4,000 MBAs; the company faces an ongoing challenge in finding qualified candidates each year. Intel considers it an economic imperative to resolve this skills gap and plug the leak in the U.S. and around the world.

Why inTel careSIntel understands the important role higher education plays in preparing students with the technical education and critical skills to get and create sustainable technology jobs that can transform countries and our global future.

Toward that end, Intel invests in the next generation of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians. Intel is committed to a systematic approach and application of resources to create environments of innovation in higher education by:

• Collaborating with professors to prepare students with critical skills by supplying access to advanced technology, software resources, and curricula

• Engaging students and professors in advanced technology research via partnerships with key universities

• Encouraging students to pursue technical and entrepreneurial studies

• Working with government, academia, NGOs, and industry partners to further higher education initiatives

• Maintaining a trusted partner and academic advisor role, and connecting academic customers to Intel® technology advisors when requested

1. David Langdon, George McKittrick, David Beede, Beethia Khan, and Mark Doms, “STEM: Good Jobs Now and for the Future,” U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration, July 2011.

2. “Rising Tigers, Sleeping Giant,” Breakthrough Institute and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, 2009.

3. “Girls in IT: The Facts Infographic.” National Center for Women and Information Technology.

4. Mona Mourshed, Diana Farrell, and Dominic Barton, “Education to Employment: Designing a System That Works.” McKinsey Center for Government, 2014.

5. Mona Mourshed, Jigar Patel, and Katrin Suder, “Education to Employment: Getting Europe’s Youth into Work.” McKinsey & Company, January 2014.

6. “The STEM Crisis,” National Math + Science Initiative.

7. “Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: Education for Global Leadership,” U.S. Department of Education.

8. “How Does the U.S. Compare to Other Countries in STEM Education?” Level Playing Field Institute, 2014.

9. “10 Startling Stats About Minorities in STEM,” Online Universities, June 17, 2012.

10. “Sparking Economic Growth, How Federally Funded University Research Creates Innovation, New Companies and Jobs,” The Science Coalition, April 2010.

11. Edward B. Roberts and Denis E. Malone, “Policies and Structures for Spinning Off New Companies from Research and Development Organizations,” March 1995.

12. Jamie Beckett, “Study Reports Stanford Alumni Create Nearly $3 Trillion in Economic Impact,” October 22, 2012.

Copyright © 2015, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel, the Intel logo, and STAY WITH IT are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Programs of the Intel® Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation.

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Learn more at: intel.com/innovate/higher-ed.

Intel® higher education programs and resources

Intel.com/universityIntel has invested more than $670 million in higher education since 2001. This investment has largely concentrated on supporting and advancing university research, professor collaborations, and student engagements. The higher education section of Intel.com explores each of these avenues, detailing the nature of that support in a wide variety of efforts. These range from open-source curricula and contests, to entrepreneurship programs, curricula development, and research collaborations. Intel.com/university also offers a rich collection of supporting materials addressing topics of interest to higher education, as well as the quarterly Intel® Higher Education newsletter. Learn more at intel.com/university.

Intel® GalileoAnything is possible when you combine hardware with software and add a dose of creativity. In an effort to inspire innovation, Intel joined the DIY tech-influenced Maker Movement with the debut of Galileo, an Arduino*-compatible development board that enables creators and makers alike to more easily develop highly complex projects at an affordable cost. Our recently completed University Donation Program shipped more than 50,000 boards to approximately 2,000 universities globally, reaching an estimated 180,000 students each year. Another example of igniting the imagination is the Intel-Cornell Cup. This college-level embedded design competition empowers student teams to invent innovative embedded technology applications—and possibly win up to $10,000. Learn more at intel.com/content/www/us/en/do-it-yourself/maker.html.

Intel Science and Technology CentersIntel has established and funded several jointly led exploratory research collaborations with the academic community. Called Intel Science and Technology Centers (ISTCs) in the U.S. and Intel Collaborative Research Institutes (ICRIs) internationally, the centers foster the development of communities that seek to discover and drive the ways in which computing can enrich the human experience, while working to leverage the resulting insights to influence Intel innovation. Learn more at intel.com/content/www/us/en/education/university/research-istc.html.

STAY WITH IT™The President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, in collaboration with engineering schools, Intel, Facebook*, MTV and Google, launched the STAY WITH IT campaign. STAY WITH IT focuses on connecting engineering students to a community of their peers and experienced engineers, role models, and influencers to encourage and motivate them to stay with the field of study and graduate with an engineering degree. Learn more at staywithit.org.