US National Science Foundation model of university-industry cooperation

I recently came across an interesting programme conducted by the US national Science Foundation to promote research cooperation between industry and university.

The Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) program develops long-term partnerships among industry, academe, and government. The centers are catalyzed by a small investment from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and are primarily supported by industry center members, with NSF taking a supporting role in the development and evolution of the center. Each center is established to conduct research that is of interest to both the industry members and the center faculty. An I/UCRC contributes to the Nation's research infrastructure base and enhances the intellectual capacity of the engineering and science workforce through the integration of research and education.  As appropriate, an I/UCRC uses international collaborations to advance these goals within the global context.

This is a model that could be emulated by Indian universities.

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Engineering colleges technical events

It has become customery for the engineering colleges to organise some student-related technical event, annually.  Such events mostly consist of paper presentation, model-making, project competitions and so on. 

Recently I read one engineering college organised a conference on nano-technology. Nano is a very catchy word. How many faculty in the engineering college are carrying out research on the subject? Is there a laboratory available for the purpose in the college? All these aspects are overlooked. 

It is high time the University looks into the quality of papers published by the faculty. Serious efforts are needed to guide the faculty to carry out fruitful research work. Most faculty think carrying out research requires huge money. That is not correct and there are ample examples to prove it is wrong. The research must have high impact value, in terms of solving the techno-economic problems faced by the industry, society and the country. 

Besides, it is necessary to pay attention to the quality of projects carried out by the students at the undergraduate level. Providing proper guidance to the projects remains a largely neglected area in the engineering college. 

The organisation of technical events mentioned in the first paragraph will be useful only when the institutions improve the quality of teaching and research and also play adequate attention to the students projects. After all we require competent faculty to evaluate the students performance in these events.

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Industry stint for teachers: Will that solve the problem

The Maharashtra State (India)  minister for higher and technical education Rajesh Tope on Thursday said the industry experience will be compulsory for teachers in all government run technical institutions. Changes would be made accordingly in the recruitment rules for teachers. The Minister added:  “When an individual completes his/her graduation, he/she starts teaching immediately in institutions. If the teacher has some work experience in an industry, it would benefit the students and the faculty as well”. Yes! The standard of higher education has gone down. However, it is doubtful whether sending teachers to the industry will solve the problem. Having worked 36 years in the industry, research and teaching, I have got some idea of the problem. To be specific, the quality of teaching, especially in engineering, has gone down due to the following reasons:

(a) Lack of research in the educational institutions: It should be appreciated that the teacher engaged in research shall definitely become a good teacher in that subject. This is unlike the universities in US and other countries, where majority of the industry-oriented research is carried out in the Universities.

(b) Lack of competence: It is generally observed that individuals go for teaching, when they do not get other jobs. Teaching requires devotion. An individual will do well in teaching only when he likes it. 

(c) Inadequate remuneration: The remunerations in the educational institutions are poor in comparison to the industry. 

Understanding an industry takes years. Sending a teacher to industry for few months will serve no purpose. It will not add any value to the teaching. 

As Abraham Lincoln once said, "Anything that you understand, you are able to explain". That is the problem with many teachers. They are poor at teaching because they do not understand the subject. Quite unfortunate indeed, but that is the reality. That problem is not going to be solved, visiting an industry for few months. We need to understand, students go to college to learn academics. Whole life is ahead to obtain industrial experience. However they will not be able to relate with the industrial experience, if they remain poor at fundamentals.  

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R&D required in electronics technology

India which boasts of being an IT superpower, is heavily dependent on imports of electronic goods from countries like the U.S. and China to meet its domestic demand. In spite of having a tax exemption of 150 percent, the Indian industries spend very little on the research and development.

The joint study done by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) and Ernst and Young points out that the Indian industry spends only $10 million on research and development.More than 70 percent of electronics appliances demand is met through imports, the study revealed.

More than 35 percent of electronics appliances imports in India are sourced from China. One wonders how India is going to compete with the so called 'Asian Tiger', increasingly depending on it in such critical areas.

The study, which is based on inputs from 89 companies, also stated that the Indian electronics and appliances market has less than two percent share in the global market, while share in production is less than one percent.

The Indian industry in general is seen as interested in making quick buck importing goods or technology even when such imports are of semi knocked down(SKD) form or completely knocked down(CKD) type.

The Government of India must provide more incentives, in tax and capital, to industries consistently investing in R&D

Deemed universities: let them bloom

From the press reports it appears that the new UPA government has begun the process of revamping the country's education system, as it has decided not to accept any further applications for Deemed-to-be-University status. Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal on Monday told that, the new mechanism would have steps to check capitation fees by professional colleges and setting up of a national council for higher education as a regulatory body.

It is not clear whether this is a temporary or permanent halt. If temporary, it is welcome till the effective system of checks and balances is put in place. However permanent ban will be a negative step on the long run. The deemed universities have certain unique advantages over the conventional state-run universities. There is no limit to reaching the academic heights, if the attitude of management is proper. It can also quickly respond to the requirements of industry and research due to short response time.
The state run universities with large number of affiliated colleges, are beset with bureaucracy, which is a means of rampant political and governmental interference. What happened in these universities in last sixty years is likely to continue, until systemic changes are brought in.

If India is to achieve progress in academics, it will be only through deemed universities, with adequate checks and balances on their functioning.