Bridging the collaboration gap between industry and academia Tuesday, 04 August 2015

During my 30 years in engineering, I have seen a concerning trend toward polarisation in both industrial practice and academia. In my student days, many lecturers were either on regular rotation into industry or worked as consultants to industry. This enabled them to carry their academic skills into industry and return with practical experience to share with students. This interaction was strengthened by both industry and the institutions who employed the academics. As students, we appreciated the real world perspectives of our lecturers as they were more grounded from their exposure to the different challenges faced in industry.

In recent surveys, Australia ranks 23rd of 26 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries in the collaboration between business and innovation and last of 30 OECD countries for collaboration between industry and research. These are sad statistics for a nation who claims to be a technological leader. They are particularly bad for our profession, who so often turns scientific research into practical reality.

At present academia, largely through the university ranking and reward systems, is pushed to the point where every university needs to be a research institution firstly, with teaching falling a distant second. This devalues the building and maintenance of ties between academics and industry, by placing an emphasis on publication rankings, driving the academics towards careers of pure research and publication. Indeed, it can be difficult to find a university academic with meaningful current industry experience and ties to practice.

At the same time, industry has withdrawn further and further from their commitment to contribute to universities. Many companies see research and even support of the education of engineers as an unnecessary burden on the bottom line while, at the same time, ascribing an ever decreasing value on those practicing engineers who have strong research skills and ties. Often, industry practitioners with PhD’s or Masters qualifications in their field don't want to mention these achievements in their work environment. Some of this is the notorious Australian tall poppy syndrome, but much of it is simply a lack of recognition of the value these advanced skills can contribute to industry.

Yet, in that middle ground between academia and practice lies the space where research is more industry focussed, leading to technological, scientific and economic breakthroughs. But as the two parties become separated further, with each valuing the other less, industry is destined to repeat the ways of its recent past, with little scientific reflection or questioning. Similarly academia risks teaching students outdated practices and pursuing research not so much influenced by industry needs but by individual interests, publication pressures and availability of funding.

For Australia to recover our competitive edge and progress to a truly technological society, both sides need to return to a more common place. A place where industry actively engages with academia in meaningful ways and, where universities are once again populated by staff who are as valued for their industrial ties and patents, as they are by the frequency and rankings of their publications.

If we are unable to reach this rich common ground, the mid-point between the “hard high ground” of academic research and the “dark muddy swamp” of industry practice, we risk the real possibility of both our academic and industrial institutions fading into history as once great, but no longer relevant nor competitive relics of the past.

So, I ask those in positions of influence in industry, please review how you support our universities and those running our universities and consider the value of staff, both current and future, with exposure to practice. Together we can be a real force for the future, polarised as we are now we are destined for the margins of history.

Undirected pure scientific research is still valuable and must continue but if all academics are forced to be researchers, who will teach and inspire the next generation of engineers. Likewise, pure engineering practice, remote from ongoing scientific research, while still at the core of most engineering endeavours will fail to grasp the innovation and evolution of knowledge emerging from our research community. Accessing, supporting and commercialising scientific breakthroughs is what will help to see us into the next decades of economic growth.

Have a great month,

Francis

@FrancisNorman