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The bridge to be crossed
RASHEED KAPPAN
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Industry has to focus on long-term ties with academia
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Industry should not confuse development with research, says expert
There seems to be no escape from the industry-academia partnership debate. The talk has been going on for quite a while now. While some reputed institutes have gone ahead and firmed up meaningful tie-ups with the industry, some others have barely touched the surface. But the majority appears to be living in a different planet, far removed from the mounting demands of the industry for well trained, highly skilled engineers and managers, scientists and technologists.
At the just concluded IT.in in Bangalore, the debate was back in focus. Of course, not many were listening since the seminar was so far removed from the city geographically. But the visitors who braved the highway traffic to get there did have something to ponder over in one session about industry-academia relationship. Moderated by the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIITB) founder director S. Sadagopan, the session dwelled deep on the industry’s perspective of the academia, and strategies to plug the loopholes.
Prof. Sadagopan was convinced that the industry could not expect quick results from the academia. The academia, he said, was slow and steady. “On a long term, it might work.” The message was clear: The industry had to take the lead, focus on long-term partnerships.
It was time for the industry to take a deep look at the academia. “We in the industry push the academia to meet our quota for industry projects. We need to figure out ways to involve the academia in our own India models. The professors are likely to listen when you talk about long-term vision,” explained Tridib Roy Chowdhury, Director of Products, Adobe Software India Private Limited.
He wanted both the industry and academia to make a clear distinction. “The academia should understand that businesses depend on deliverables, and the industry should not confuse development with research. The industry cannot go to the academia for development.”
Faculty development
One area where the industry could make a difference, according to Mr. Chowdhury, was in teaching. “The student:professor ratio is very low here. The industry can find ways to participate in this teaching.” He apparently meant industry people as guest faculty in select institutions.
Industry involvement in academia could be through the research mode too. As Sunil D. Sherlekar, Head, Embedded Systems R & D Group, Tata Consultancy Services, put it, the key to the partnership was innovation. “Manpower shortage issues of the industry could be solved by providing research funds to the institutes. For instance, funds could be given for purchase of equipment or scholarships to students at the master’s level to take up research.”
But he was sure that the sponsored students could not be forced to join a particular company. The industry had to look at it as a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The way out was to have a continuous interaction and commitment from both sides to keep the relationship sustainable.
Academia and real-time projects
Academic-industry relationship could remain very “academic” if students are not allowed to take part in real industry projects.
Manav Subodh, Manager, University Programmes Corporate Affairs, South Asia, Intel Technology, brought home this point strongly, when he advised the industry to “offload some of the real-time projects to the academia.” This would have a definite advantage.
“The students and professors will be excited. There are a lot of partnership models where the students, teachers and the industry do research together. The fellowship/sponsorship model is important, but the partnership model seems to be the best bet,” he felt.
The model had to start early. B.Tech students had to be targeted when they were in their second year of study. “Only then will he/ she take up research. Let the partnership start from there.”
Industry participation in faculty development was another workable model.
The plan: “Encourage faculty sabbaticals, create adjunct faculty from the industry, recruit some bright industry people to teach in the academic institutions, incentivise such activities,”
Mr. Manav’s prescription was apparently based on his experiences of working on various university programmes.
More practical academia
Eventually, the debate had to talk about the academia’s need for a practical-oriented curriculum. “The academia is not strong on development. The focus should be on laboratory-oriented courses. There is a need to create more design/development/experiments- oriented curriculum,” observed S. Karthik, Engineering Director, CPSG, India Product Development Centre, Analog Devices.
The courses on VLSI and Embedded Systems, for instance, could not be blackboard based.
“Revamp the lab curriculum through industry participation on a long-term basis.”
Providing an academia perspective was Lovi Raj Gupta, Dean, Lovely School of Technology and Science. The academia clearly lacked the critical inter-disciplinary approach, he felt.
“We never connect two disciplines, two semesters, or even two lectures. The industry can train teachers on developing that ‘connection’ through faculty orientation programmes,” he explained.
For the academia to really become a meaningful partner of the industry, it had to move away from its examination-orientation, where students were merely equipped to be “formula-smart” and “number-crunchers.”
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Education Plus
Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
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