Developing students’ aptitudes through University-Industry collaboration

• Published in: Ingeniería e investigación Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 121 - 128
• Main Authors: Aizpun, Miguel, Sandino, Diego, Merideno, Inaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bogota Universidad Nacional de Colombia 01.09.2015; Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
• Subjects: colaboración universidad; Collaborative learning; Colleges & universities; Communities; Comunidad de estudiantes; Cooperation; creatividad; Creativity; Educación; Education; Engineering; ENGINEERING, MULTIDISCIPLINARY; industria; Industry; industry collaboration; Knowledge base; Leadership; Mechanical Engineering; motivación; motivation; multidisciplinary teamwork; Product design engineering; Skills; Student attitudes; Student community; Students; Teachers; trabajo en equipo multidisciplinario; university; university-industry collaboration; creatividad; Student community; university-industry collaboration; multidisciplinary teamwork; motivation; Comunidad de estudiantes; motivación; colaboración universidad-industria; creativity; trabajo en equipo multidisciplinario
• ISSN: 0120-5609; 2248-8723; 2248-8723
• DOI: 10.15446/ing.investig.v35n3.48188

In addition to the engineering knowledge base that has been traditionally taught, today's undergraduate engineering students need to be given the opportunity to practice a set of skills that will be demanded to them by future employers, namely: creativity, teamwork, problem solving, leadership and the ability to generate innovative ideas. In order to achieve this and educate engineers with both in-depth technical knowledge and professional skills, universities must carry out their own innovating and find suitable approaches that serve their students. This article presents a novel approach that involves university-industry collaboration. It is based on creating a student community for a particular company, allowing students to deal with real industry projects and apply what they are learning in the classroom. A sample project for the German sports brand adidas is presented, along with the project results and evaluation by students and teachers. The university-industry collaborative approach is shown to be beneficial for both students and industry.