INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION AT THE INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CASTILLA-LA MANCHA

The relationship between the Industry and the University plays a significant role in the Industrial Engineering Education at the the Higher Technical School of Industrial Engineeringof the University of Castilla-La Mancha. The main objective of this collaboration is to better prepare the students for an industrial engineering professional career. This collaboration program is being focused on training activities, research, technology transfer and scientific-technological dissemination in the field of engineering. Thus, the following activities are developed in our school: educational cooperation agreements for training students to work in a company, technical talks, technical visits, company awards and research/development/innovation projects. Supervised work in companies (interships) of our students is a good experience to establish contact with the business reality. The only requirement for the student is having passed more than 50% of the total credits of the degree. The student can not stay in the company more than six months per academic year. In this program, each student receives advice from an academic supervisor and a company supervisor. The objective is that the student effectively learns to think through real situations, and in the process, isolate the issues involved, so that he can develop appropriate responses. The technical talks provide an opportunity for engineering professionals to gather and discuss areas of technological importance not included in the curriculum of Industrial Engineering. The university has the responsibility for the financial and administrative operation of the planned talks and provide for the managerial support of the individual talks. Technical visits are aimed to bridge the gap between pure academic training and real company experiences. With these visits, the student can better understand and evaluate the technological potential of companies in the region. The student can relate the theoretical concepts taught in school with the industrial processes. The objective of the company awards is mainly to promote the quality and innovation of the final projects and to recognize the work of the students. In addition, this initiative aims to improve the cooperation between academic and business worlds. With respect to the research collaboration between the university and the industry, it should be greater everyday due to faster technological development, shorter product life-cycles and more intense global competition. In this field, the University-Company relationship has to promote business culture and technology transfer from the University to the companies. Industry needs to seek and acquire knowledge to create value and to differentiate themselves in the global marketplace. This relationship should be constantly adapting and evolving to meet this important need.