hussein zedan, "centros tecnológicos: vinculación de las universidades con la industria"

University Technology Centres: LinkingUniversities with Industries

c©Hussein Zedan

School of Architecture, Computing and EngineeringUniversity of East London, London

Software Technology Research LaboratoryDe Montfort University, Leicester

SML - UTC-SE,Leicester

July 3, 2013

c©Hussein Zedan University Technology Centres: Linking Universities with Industries

At a Glance

Building a fruitful relationship with industry is HARDIt often relies on

who you knowquality of your product(s) (both research and teaching) andtheir need

Building and nurturing this relationship require an adequateand an efficient provisions at both organisational structureand operational management (ie. proper implementation) .


About UEL

University of East London is a State run University whereTechnology Education and Research are at the core of itsmission. Recent re-structuring has ensured that such amission is fulfilled.

Many of its staff are involved in the UK Research Councils(e.g. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council).This involvement take the form of being members of theircolleges, ranking panels, reviewers, etc.

In its recent Research Assessment, the Higher EducationFunding Council for England - HEFCE, has rated its 85% ofits research output as of World Leading or InternationalExcellent.


About UEL - Cont.

Many staff are engaged in EU-funded projects. For example inareas such as Data Centre, Computer Security and Forensic.

For example

1 The legacy of Olympic 20122 Sustainability (£6.8M ) and3 Data Centre (£1.7M).


About UEL - Cont.

Recently, one of the most prestigious awards, namely theRoyal Society Industry Fellowship , was won by one of ourstaff.

The engagement with industries is at the heart of UELphilosphy:

One of the initiatives is the creation of University TechnologyCentres (UTCs) in various key technologies.Funding these UTCs are largely from industry, and some casesare completely funded by industry. For example:

the Software Migration Ltd (SML) UTC in SoftwareEvolution.This funds PhD students, Research Fellows and softwaredevelopers.SML is also heavily involved in the teaching of SoftwareEvolution within the Software Engineering Master courses.


Technologies and Knowledge

Technology is a body of knowledge used to create tools,develop skills, and extract or collect materials.

It is also the application of science (the combination of thescientific method and material) to meet an objective or solvea problem.

For society to gain the most from technology, the public mustbe able to understand scientific issues and consider themrationally.

The design of curricula for technology education

and their implementation mustreflect all of the above


Technology and the Process of Science

There is a reciprocal relationship between technology and theprocess of science.

Improvements in technology enable scientists to investigatequestions that were previously difficult, or even impossible, toaddress.

At the same time, scientific curiosity often provides theimpetus for refining an existing technology or developing anew one.


Problems and Technologies

A problem does not drive technology unidirectionally, nor doestechnology exist solely in search of a problem to solve.

Rather, these two areas exist to support and drive one another.

Solving problems does require the development of newtechnologies, which can then be applied to other problems.

Co-evolution issue.


Context: Taught Programmes

Taught Programmes are

Batchelor of Science (B.Sc.) or Batchelor of Engineering(B.Eng.)

A Three year programme with the option of6-12 months industrial placement.

Master of Science (M.Sc.) or Master of Engineering (M.Eng.)

A Four year programme, in which the fourthyear can be bolted on top of B.Sc./B.Eng.Again industrial placement is allowed.


Contxt: Taught programmes

Master of Research (M.Res.)

12-15 months taught programme. Mainly onresearch methodologies both in science andengineering.

Professional Doctorate

Four years programme leads to the degree ofProfessional Ph.D. It is NOT the same as aPh.D. by pure research. It has taught modulesand small-to-medium size projects in industry.

Engineering Doctorate

Four year programme funded by UK ResearchCouncils and industriesMixture of taught modules and a thesis.Very closely embedded within industry.Candidates have an industrial supervisor andspend at least a year in industry.


Context: Training

It is important to note that there is a clear distinctionbetween training and education

In training

we deal with specific industrial problem(s) that may reflecttheir current need(s).it is of a short duration (days to weeks in some cases)no qualification at the end.

Training in technology often deals with proprietarytechnology: Microsoft, Apple, IBM, etc.

Training has no regulatory bodies to ensure quality . Thejudgment of quality is left to the society it receives thetraining!


Context: Training + Qualification

Due to career progression, some academic institutions offer anIndustrial Master in which a number of trainingcourses/modules are needed (average is 10 modules) inaddition to a development project

This is not regulated, although Universities have to put itthrough their validation processes.


Context: Targeted Master Degrees

There are very few examples in which a specialised M.Sc.s aredeveloped for a particular industrial domain.

For example, Avionics, Microelectronic, Embedded System.

These are normally academic Masters which have gonethrough all the required processes but the role of industry heretake the form of

financial supportguest lecturingreal-life case studiesperiod of study in housepromise of a job at the end for the top, say 25% of thecandidateetc.


Context: Targeted Master Degrees

Example of this at a Batchelor level does not exist for a fulldegree programme.

However, sponsorship of a particular industry at the final yearmay be possible


Constraints: Validation

For the above to be successful, and agreed upon by all stakeholders, all programmes must go through validation process.

This is mandated upon by what we call the QAA

It is a quality assurance body, made up from academics andfor academics, to ensure that the quality of programmesacross the sectors are maintained, meeting common criteriathat are agreed upon by all concerned.


Constraints: Validation

These validations have to conform with a set of very strictroles including market needs of the program and that it meetsindustrial needs


Applied Research, Industrial needs and study programs

Applied research has to be supported by, and built on,advances in sound basic research.

This is certainly true with technology research, given theirpervasive nature .

There is no doubt that applied research has to be supportedby basic research and that basic research has to be informedby applications which are driven by industrial needs


University Technology Centres (UTCs)

UTC is a structure within which both the industrial sectorsand academic institutions can

1 collaborate to meet industrial needs and help in shapingacademic research and teaching agendas; and

2 facilitate technology transfer


University Technology Centres (UTCs)

UTC can be funded purely by industry– e.g.1 SML UTC-SE2 Rolls Royce UTC-Critical System3 BAe UTC-Dependable System

Or can be an integral part of a university structure


Competences

Care must be taking in the selection process when recruitingstaff on any technology teaching programme .

An essential requirement is that the minimum qualification isPhD in the appropriate discipline (e.g. Computing,Engineering, etc.)

In some cases, ”related” disciplines can be considered. Thiswas the case, for example in the early days of Computing,where there were not enough PhD holders in the subject.

A desirable requirement is industrial experience

Applicants with no PhD but have industrial experience at aparticular level will also be considered

The experience should be for at least three years.


Competences

Research and publication in the learned journals andInternational Conferences have become one of the essentialrequirements.

Continual training are given both in-house and outside.

Co-teaching is also encourage and have increasingly becomethe norm.


Strategies

A mixture of teaching strategies are encouraged. In particular:

Active Learning - Experience has shown that active learningimproves students’ understanding and retention of informationand can be very effective in developing higher order cognitiveskills such as problem solving and critical thinking.Critical Thinking - where a collection of mental activities thatinclude the ability to intuit, clarify, reflect, connect, infer, andjudge. It brings these activities together and enables thestudent to question what knowledge exists.

All material are placed on Blackboard


Vision for 2030 and beyond

Creativity and Creativity Mappers: Modelling, Associatedtechnologies and ApplicationE.g.

Education : E/M-learning,Industry : All,Government : All departments, andMilitary

New form of communication Pictures Communication
