We are in a world of innovations and convenience. Once in 1980s I went from Europe to the UK and the travel equipment was called hovercraft. When the world’s first hovercraft was floated back in 1959 across the windy English Channel, people wondered whether it was a boat or an aircraft. A hovercraft can glide just as easily over water, land, or ice. That makes it a perfect vehicle for getting round some of the world’s most inaccessible areas, places ordinary boats can’t reach and planes can’t land. Hovercraft uses blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull, or air cushion, that is slightly above atmospheric pressure. The pressure difference between the higher pressure air below the hull and lower pressed ambient air above it produces lift, which causes the hull to float above the running surface. And today we have two wheelers that could move on the road and they could sail through the water – In this incessant rainy season it is very handy. Such innovations are the outcome of institute concept, industrial design and production.
When the world received the thrilling information about the superconductors, everyone thought we had reached the ultimate Everest in research. But the discovery is a combined efforts of universities and Govt and commercial labs such as Houston University, Bell, IBM, AT &T labs. And today we are bringing to table how industry and institution collaboration could be contemplated, explored, and effected. The integrated and interconnected concept would be the rule for the future progress both for institutions as well as for industries, for the institutions are the repositories of knowledge, while the industries possess the ability to give concrete design to the concept developed. LEDs originated from university research. Big data, data science, and statistical analysis, fuzzy logic coming from educational institutions could be used for commercial applications in industries. University innovations could evolve into technological breakthrough leading to industrial innovation and economic growth.
This Institution vs Industry relation implies addressing customer needs based on theoretical models evolved in educational institutions. Normally, the institutions seem to be static reminiscing in the past glory, whereas the industries are dynamic looking to the future needs of the people. If only the institutions could wake up and give impulse to the industries and the industries give shape and life to these impulses, the welfare of people and economy of countries could be improved very much.
Institutions operate on covering the syllabi but the industries discover the future demand so that they could strength the supply-demand chain. In the present scenario, the industries feel that the syllabi in university institutions are at least a decade, if not more, outdated. This is what Tech Mahindra told us in LICET. Of course, the situation in academically autonomous institutions are much better. Just consider the plight of our students who are placed in industries. They go through three phases: i. First they learn the syllabi in the colleges; ii. when they are placed in industries, they have to delearn during the training phase; and iii. Then they have to relearn what is needed in industries. Why can’t we sit with industries and design the syllabi and we could then explore joint efforts in teaching academic teachers as well as industrial designers. Then our students would be hybrid and creative employees with the potential of entrepreneurs. I am sure you will look into this aspect during the deliberations today.
The institutions could be sources of offering theoretical matrix for the industries; and industries could work on the practical aspects. Institutions could excel in data science analysis, programming, etc. While natural sciences such as Physics and Chemistry could work on mathematical formulae, life sciences like botany and biology need statistical analysis for their progress in research. The process is a two way traffic between theory and practical – institutions come up with theoretical models and industries bring out the working design.
Some of the institution-industry innovations could be initiated through institutional pedagogy and research:
- Designing of syllabi and teaching methodology in collaboration with the industries;
- Faculty research and publishing as part of teaching contract in collaboration with industries;
- Institution patenting and licensing;
- Faculty consulting;
- Faculty start up as well as entrepreneurship, including the establishment by faculty or other institution researchers of new firms to commercialize their innovations;
- Interaction, especially in syllabi designing, teaching, and internship, including conferences and joint-publications; and
- Training and placing students in industries. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK253889/)
The Jesuit signature of education comes in here as ethics. We need science, we need production, we need to boost economy but not at the expense of ethics. Jesuits would bat for excellence with ethics. Academic excellence and industrial top of the world business should be governed by ethics. Industries should not put profit before people; industries should not become self-oriented ignoring the rights of the other. Jesuit formation is ‘other’ centered. We need to address our present educational system: If our existing system offers yesterday’s solution for tomorrow’s problems, we need to bring things to the discussion table. We may not change the beginning of history, but we can start now and change the rest of the course. The people are us and the time is now.
If industries are the backbone of the society, institutions are the pulses of the society to be alive and to grow. However strong the backbone is, when one does not breathe or when one’s heart-beat is not actively alive, we would become thing of the past. Let us keep the good of fellow human beings and their needs in mind and work together both academic and from production points. Let this be the focus of industry-institutions interconnectedness.