In last month’s article, I suggested that students are the university’s product and that the best way to create good products is to strengthen the university-industry relationship. This relationship is dependent on companies being part of the process of training students, from research to professional development.
There are currently mechanisms in place at the University of Arkansas that easily allow companies to interact with and help train students. The most widely recognized interactions involve companies establishing cooperatives and internship programs for students to work on-site at businesses, as well as companies sponsoring undergraduate senior design projects.
The University of Arkansas Department of Mechanical Engineering also takes the design and engineering training to another level by integrating the principles of Conceive Design Implement Operate, a national organization (www.cdio.org), into the classroom and introducing students to an industry challenge that is relevant to the course’s topic, such as geometric design, and having them develop a solution throughout the semester as they are learning fundamental science and engineering principles. All are excellent opportunities for undergraduate students and are vital to the university-industry relationship.
The IGNITE program (Industry Generating New Ideas and Technology through Education), however, is one of the newest university-industry programs at UA and provides unmatched training experiences for graduate students, especially those in STEM fields. IGNITE is unique because it perfectly fulfills the land grant mission of the University of Arkansas. As a land grant institution, we have three primary responsibilities that all ultimately foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem in the state: teaching, research, and economic development.
IGNITE satisfies all three aspects by achieving the following:
1) being the “R&D” center for Arkansas companies (and those in the surrounding region) that have technical challenges by linking them with graduate students and faculty researchers;
2) establishing a truly interdisciplinary program where graduate students from (but not limited to) engineering, chemistry, biological sciences, physics, computer science, math, health and human performance, nursing, agriculture, human environmental sciences, and business are able to interact, exchange ideas, draw from fundamental science and business principles, and learn from one another while developing solutions to real-world problems provided by industry;
3) transforming the classroom by teaching students necessary skills in professional development, communication, idea generation and group dynamics, exposing them to a broad range of career opportunities, and allowing for direct company-student interaction on a weekly basis;
4) serving as a clearinghouse for university-industry interaction by providing a platform for companies to collaborate with students and faculty on research project, discuss job and intern opportunities with students and express desired skills necessary in their respective industries;
5) creating an entrepreneurial spirit and mindset in students and faculty by promoting the commercialization of research and using a revised lean business model canvas to expose students to the concept of demand-driven innovation; and
6) generating a statewide impact by promoting company growth, industry expansion, technology-centered jobs, and innovation-based economic development in Arkansas.
Due to these characteristics of the program, there is a natural two-way conversation between companies and the university that provides unique experiences for both students and industry in the state. Through IGNITE, students not only learn about the variety of industries in Arkansas and the career opportunities available in the state, they are also tasked with providing progressive solutions to real-world industry challenges while both faculty and companies serve as mentors. In turn, these solutions will ultimately help the growth of the companies and the economy. Furthermore, the creativity of the students’ ideas could even result in the formation of new companies. Therefore, IGNITE allows companies to take part in both the education and career preparation of students, as well as the strengthening of the state’s economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem.