University – Industry Linkages and Engineering Education
Teaching
Abstract
Performance of higher learning institutions, research organizations and industrial support
organizations is on their recognition in providing solutions to the industry. The industrial
solutions are based on the development of new products and processes, solving emerging
problems, and the provision of technical services. Since the industrial support institutions are
in engineering discipline, their performance is therefore dependent on the competence of the
existing engineering education system. However, for the in-class competencies to be
transformed into meaningful innovations, the industry needs appropriate University-industry
linkages. The linkages have the role of providing a platform for the University community to
practice their profession. At the same time these linkages are necessary for the University to
secure contracted research work, which will simultaneously enrich the in-class teaching. A
smooth undertaking of research leading to innovation in the industry requires a regulated
environment that is predictable; accommodates and even encourages new developments in
goods and services; protects intellectual property; and provides open, interoperable standards.
Intellectual property rights play an important role in encouraging technological innovation:
they encourage the research and development efforts necessary for new product and process
development by allowing for the recouping of the initial costs of innovation; they can create
market power that allows for above-normal profits, thus encouraging competition to be the
first to invent a new product or process; and, since patents encourage inventors to disclose
their new knowledge in exchange for protection from imitators, they increase the overall pace
of innovation by enabling inventors to build on each other’s work. By taking a case study of
the College of Engineering and Technology of the University of Dar es Salaam, the authors
show the importance of University – industry linkages for engineering education.
Recommendations for improving the linkages and its relevance to engineering teaching are
also provided.
Keywords:
Engineering education; University–industry linkages; Research and
development; Innovation; Intellectual property rights
1.
Introduction
1.1
Education and Lifelong Learning
Education and knowledge is a core element in to development since it will impart people with
positive mindset and culture that cherish human development through hard work,
professionalism, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovativeness. In its communication of 10
November 2005 [COM(2005)548], the European Union Commission has identified key
competencies necessary for living and working in a modern research driven innovative
society. The competencies are in communication in the mother tongue and foreign
languages; mathematical and science and technology; digital; learning-to-learn; and cultural
expression1. Digital literacy is important for its role in a wider uptake of the information
communication technologies that are associated with modern simulation-oriented research.
Modernization and restructuring of education system is important for providing these key
competencies.
The European Union2 has indicated that lifelong learning influences three aspects of
innovation: first, innovation as a creative activity, research and engineering work require
input from highly educated personnel. Innovation involves the uptake of new technologies
and processes, requiring workforces to develop new skills. Workforces with higher levels of
basic skills are likely to be able to adapt better. Thirdly, innovation can be supported by
consumer demand for new, sophisticated products. The customers that are building positive
attitudes to change are supporting demand for growth and in a sense they influence customerdriven innovation. However, innovation in products require purchaser to learn new skills to
use them, and so, the higher the general skill levels in society, the higher demand for such
new products is likely to be.
Undergraduate engineering education experience should therefore be modernized to influence
the uptake of lifelong learning. As domestic engineering students are energized by their
undergraduate education experience, it enhances the possibility that they will be retained as
graduate engineers and aspire to advanced degrees through the academic engineering
research enterprise. Research universities should advance the frontiers of fundamental
science and technology; advance interdisciplinary work and learning; develop a new, broad
approach to engineering systems; and focus on technologies that address the most important
problems facing the society.
In contrary to the developed countries, the difficulty with which developing economies can
meet these requirements is apparent. For instance, Tanzania's engineering education is
negatively affected by many factors that include the small size of the pool of quality students.
As iterated in the University of Dar es Salaam’s five-year rolling strategic plan 2005/2006 –
2009/2010, this has been a result of the failure of the economy to sustain a quality primary
and secondary education3. Consequently, there is a low level admission to secondary
education, which is currently at 5 percent only and thereafter 15 percent of these students join
A-level. Mfinanga4 showed a diminishing A-Level students’ performance indicated in Fig. 1.
The deteriorating performance for A-level students as indicated by dwindling scores for
division I and II limits the quality and quantity of potential entrants to all universities in the
country. Taking into consideration of other competing non-engineering disciplines, it is
apparent that the pool of quality students to join the engineering education is marginalized
further.
25
SCORE, %
20
15
DIVISION (I)
DIVISION (II)
10
5
0
2004
2005
2006
2007
ACADEMIC YEAR
Fig. 1: Students’ performance in A-Level
1.2
Excellence in Engineering Education
Excellence in engineering education is an important factor in maintaining competencies of
engineering universities. The main competency expected from the universities is for their
capability to produce engineers who will make the nation responsive to eminent societal
problems and prepare them for their future engineering engagement5. Refocusing and
reshaping the undergraduate and graduate engineering learning experience is necessary for
meeting this endeavour. This will involve restructuring of engineering programs, reallocation
of resources, and refocusing of faculty and professional society time and energy.
It is argued that it takes decades of continuous and dedicated improvement activities to impart
excellence like the one from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT, Berkeley
Stanford, and Columbia in the USA6, 7. All prominent universities are more than 100 years
old. It is therefore important that concerted and enduring efforts are taken for imparting
excellence in the existing universities. Incentive structures and appropriate curricula need be
put in place for the universities to have a genuine interest in collaborating and imparting
innovation in the industry8, 9.
1.3
Future Engineers and the Global Marketplace
The environment in which future engineers will work is strongly influenced by the global
marketplace for engineering services. This is evidenced by the outsourcing of engineering
jobs, a growing need for interdisciplinary and system-based approaches, demands for new
paradigms of customization, and an increasingly international talent pool. The steady
integration of technology in public infrastructures and lives will call for more involvement by
engineers in the setting of public policy and in participation in the civic arena. Further, the
explosive growth in recent years of foreign direct investment and international corporate
alliances involving technology transfer and engineering cooperation requires cooperation
among technical personnel based in two or more countries.
Engineering universities must therefore take these challenges into consideration by producing
global engineers. A “global engineer” is defined as one who has the personal qualities,
international knowledge, and technical skills required to work effectively in a range of
international settings and work environments10. The global engineering skill set includes (1)
language and cultural skills, (2) teamwork and group dynamics skills, (3) knowledge of the
business and engineering cultures of counterpart countries, and (4) knowledge of
international variations in engineering education and practice.
The Universities should therefore adopt a systems-oriented college curriculum that balances
the “generalist” perspective and the “specialist” perspective. Such a curriculum should
broaden the global engineer's focus while at the same time allow him or her to integrate the
“deep” perspectives of a variety of specialists across several disciplines10. Further, a
possibility of acquiring the global engineering skills is through on-the-job training through
continuous improvement and nurturing by peers and management (mentoring). Language
skills can be gained through schooling and immersion in the foreign environment.
1.4
Engineering Universities and Innovation
The National Academy of Engineering of the National Academies5 indicated that currently,
the scientific and engineering knowledge doubles every 10 years. This geometric growth rate
has been reflected in an accelerating rate of technology introduction and adoption. Product
cycle times continue to decrease, and each cycle delivers more functional and often less
expensive versions of existing products, and occasionally introducing entirely new
technologies. Older technologies are becoming obsolete at an increasing rate. Recent and
emergent advances, such as those in biotechnology, nanotechnology, information and
communications technology, material science and photonics, and other totally unanticipated
technologies will be among the changes with which engineering and engineering education
will need to contend in the future. In order to cope with the existing pace of diminishing
products’ cycle, businesses are therefore required to become more innovative while at the
same time reducing their production cycles. However, innovation requires the engineering
education to sustain meaningful research and development. The universities need to support
the businesses in new product development and also for improving existing product and
production processes.
2
Intellectual Property Rights and Policies
2.1
Intellectual Property Rights
For the universities to have a smooth undertaking of research and development leading to
innovation requires a regulatory environment that is predictable; accommodates and even
encourages new developments in goods and services; protects intellectual property; and
provides open, interoperable standards. Intellectual property is a broad term that is used to
describe the wide range of rights that are conferred by the legal system in relation to discrete
items of information that have resulted from some form of human intellectual activity11.
Intellectual property is protected through a number of special laws and public policies, and is
categorized under patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets.
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the patent
issuing office. In order to obtain a patent, the applicant must prove that the invention is
useful, novel, and non-obvious, and provide a working model to the patent office. The term
of a new patent is fixed to a limited period of time from the date on which the application was
filed. Patent rights are usually effective in the territory from which the patent is registered.
The right conferred by the patent grant is generally the right to exclude others from making,
using, offering for sale, or selling the invention in the territory. In Tanzania, patents are
granted by the Government through an agency known as Business Registration and Licensing
Agency (BRELA). BRELLA issues patents for a term of ten years renewable for two terms
of 5 years each. Compared to patent issuing offices in the developed countries like Europe
and USA, BRELA has received insufficient requests for patents registration. Mihayo12 noted
that the registration of patents and intellectual property rights is marginalized due to the socio
economic situation that did not put in place a regulatory and institutional framework for its
wider adoption.
Patents play an important role in encouraging technological innovation leading to economic
development13. In the first place, patent rights encourage the research and development
efforts necessary for new product and process development by allowing for the recouping of
the initial costs of innovation. Secondly, a patent can create market power that allows for
above-normal profits, thus encouraging competition to be the first to invent a new product or
process. Further, since patents encourage inventors to disclose their new knowledge in
exchange for protection from imitators, they increase the overall pace of innovation by
enabling inventors to build on each other’s work.
Typical patent costs include different applicable fees for filing/search, examination, grant,
renewal, translation and agents. In order to attract and increase the number of patents it is
important to institute affordable costs emanating from these fees. Due to the need of
translating patents into languages of the different member countries in the European Union
and associated with high renewal, and agents’ fees, registration of patents in Europe is more
expensive compared to Japan and the United States. While the cost of a patent in Japan and
the United States are € 17,000 and € 10,000 respectively, the cost in Europe is € 50,00014.
The desired positive effects of patents can be met effectively when existing costs are made
affordable to researchers and innovators.
2.2
Policy Framework for Steering Innovation
Coherent innovation policies are necessary for lowering barriers and to mitigate the perceived
risks of failure to businesses. Governments need operate a range of a series of schemes for
supporting investment in start-up companies, and in some cases operating seed financing
schemes directly. The government funding need be used to provide incentives to private
funds to invest in small companies where the minimal prospective funds might otherwise
have discouraged them. For instance, the government need offer finance for supporting
University spin-offs, some directly and others through private venture capital funds.
Fiscal measures are important in supporting innovation. Tax credits for companies’ research
and development (R&D) spending are the most common in Europe15. The tax credit system
is used in Belgium Austria, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway and the UK. However, since
it is difficult to define and measure innovation spending, it is viewed that R&D tax credits are
not appropriate for small innovative companies which have relatively minimal research
capacity. Consequently, Nordic countries and German provide targeted grants and loans in
place of the tax credits.
Government policies can influence customer-driven innovation by liberalizing markets, by
building positive attitude to change, and by increasing companies’ exposure to shift in
demand. Furthermore, governments can boost demand for new products through their
positive procurement policies, and by demanding and promoting appropriate standards for
new products.
3
Engineering Curriculum
An effective engineering curriculum calls for interactive tutor-student and technological
change model. The rapid changes in science and technology necessitate this relationship
giving the beneficiary (candidates) a wider cognitive perspective, so that they develop
breadth and depth in knowledge and understanding 16. In developing countries, the younger
generation is faced with an ever demanding task to reach the state of knowledge achieved by
others from advantaged counterparts from more developed part of the globe. More areas of
study accompanied by deep understanding are coming in and knowledge requirement for
employment has been of an increase. This scenario was different previously; a Standard IV
leaver of the1950s could easily get a low skill demand job in industries and government
offices. Currently the lowest marketable qualification is Form VI and in many cases with
computer illiteracy. Moreover a person has to acquire a life-long learning in order to be a
contributor to the development of his/her world. Molding a knowledgeable person requires
coordinated efforts. Proper planning is of vital importance for a sound success educational
system 17, 18. There are three fundamental reasons to justify the inclusion of education in
national planning: The first is the role of education in production. Education generates
knowledge, transmits the same and enables its application to the task of national
development. National development planning involves the setting of objectives and economic
growth targets which are themselves affected by factors such as the availability of manpower,
the extent to which productive investment can be increased, growth in labor productivity and
others. The major role education plays in production is in technical progress. This is an
additional factor to such production inputs as physical capital, labor and natural resources.
Technical resources could account for as much as 90 % of production. Education therefore
provides not only knowledge, skills and the incentive needed by a modern productive
economy, but also the necessary technology. A second role of education is in human
resources or manpower development. This provides the society with the scientific and
technological capability for furthering developments. The other reason for the inclusion of
education in national planning is that education system could be a big industry, involving
large numbers of personnel, programs and use of substantial material resources.
Consequently, in most countries, a large proportion of the Gross National Product (GNP) is
spent on education. This justifies the inclusion of education planning in the national planning
system to avoid mismatch system.
3.1
Education Planning, the African Context
Africa is a continent with over 750 million people, of whom 53% are below the age of 20.
Access to education is limited while the demand is enormous. Less than 5% of students have
access to tertiary education today, compared to the world average of 16% 19. In 1996, the
average annual cost of training one student at the university level in Africa was equivalent to
over 400% of the per capita income, compared to 26% in US. These costs place a significant
burden on scarce government resources. The Information and Communication Technologies
could help in expanding people’s access to knowledge.
Education planning embodies skills of anticipating, influencing, and controlling the nature
and direction of change of education. It deals with the consequences of active intervention
with actions for changing the present into a better future. Effective education planning
ensures survival and growth of the same. Since by this concept, planning is not just
forecasting or predicting the future but involves policy measures which direct future
development towards more desirable ends. A sound education planning is closely linked not
only with policy making but also with making decisions. It sets appropriate goals and prepare
for adaptive and innovative change. It is through planning that decisions are translated into
systematic programs of action for implementation.
However, participative approach to educational planning might not always be feasible in
large parts of Africa 20. Rarely are lecturers at higher learning institutions involved in
educational planning, leave alone the teachers, headmasters, and head-teachers. In this
context, Educational planning is done by experts at the ministry who have less knowledge
about the implementation stage. The lack of knowledge and understanding of planning by
most of the officials lowers down the rungs of the government. Bureaucracies may in
addition be of a serious obstacle to the practice of participative planning. In most cases,
planners in Africa have no power over the organization of the national economy. They are not
responsible for establishing broad educational aims and objectives, and they are also not
responsible for the actual implementation of objectives once they are set. The former are the
prerogatives of the politician and the latter largely that of the educational administrator. The
lack of proper comprehension of the respective roles of the politician, the educational
administrator and the planning technician in the systematic development of education, have
tended to affect educational planning in many African countries.
Human and natural factors may further aggravate the planning process. This is in the
developing regions of the world such as Africa. The severe drought which for the past five
years has affected economies of many African countries to consequently contributing to ill
conceived educational planning. Similarly, the exports for most African countries are based
on primary agriculture products, which are subjected to price fluctuations on the world
market. The effect of these price fluctuations is a weak economic base that may influence
effective planning. Oil, a commodity of increasing price per unit price is badly needed for
many Africans economics but have to be imported. This drain the merge resources for many
nations consequently exacerbate of oil, to the problems in African countries and perturb
educational planning in existence. These factors make governments concentrate on allocating
large sums of funds to areas they consider more important than educational related activities.
Curriculum on the other side include the currently input to the system of education, involving
what is planned for both inside and outside of the class room under the direction of the
institute 18. The aims of planning are crucial for the development of a curriculum. These aims,
if realistically and well formulated, can set the stage for the remaining work in curriculum
organization. The problem is that national policies on education tend to be rather vague and
then it is up to the curriculum designers to work out how best the goals can be achieved 16.
What should be taught is the second major decision concerning the curriculum. It is not
certain from the start whether the desire is for; subject matter, concepts, intellectual powers,
practical skills, or attitudes, or all of these 20. Decisions as to what is to be learned are based
on national policies, the demand of the society, the nature of the learners, the learners’ stage
of development and their interests 18. The cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains can
be used for setting up behavioral objectives as discussed by Brown et al.16.
3.2
Curriculum Implementation
It is believed that the ministry concerned with higher learning institutions, Planners, Vice
Chancellor/Principal, Lecturers work together to establish the curriculum for an Institute or a
University. Some Universities and advanced Teachers Colleges set their own syllabi and
examinations subject to moderation by other university personnel. The Ministry responsible
for Education oversees and ensures that there are adequate facilities for learning. In other
instances different bodies have the freedom to experiment with its own curriculum and
examinations. Some countries may allow students and stakeholders to participation in the
curriculum design. A good Lecturer will allow a certain amount of feedback from students
during the planning and implementation of the curriculum. The information he/she acquires
through this process will help in deciding on the teaching strategy best suited to the interests
and level of development of the students. Any curriculum planning which ignores the specific
capabilities and characteristics of the students for whom it is planned may experience serious
difficulties during the implementation stage 18.
Lecturers are the key persons who can make the curriculum design achieve its intended goals.
Dedication, hardworking and imagination can enliven what would otherwise be dull and
lifeless undertaking. It is true that imagination and inventiveness on the part of lecturers make
the syllabus vital and stimulating in the classroom18. Outside the classroom the lecturer also
has an important part to play in the curriculum. His/her informal contact with students in the
dinning-room or the sports field and others may give valuable information about the
characters and personalities of his/her students (ibid).
The planners are obliged to oversee execution of the plan and ensure that the learning
environment is conducive to achieve the national goals. The infrastructure for the institute or
university should be adequate and ideal for the university work. Class-rooms, laboratories,
training workshops and library, sports facilities, and recreation rooms should be well
equipped and up to date. Other services like hospitals, cafeterias, and shops, should also be of
high regard. Recruitment of lecturers, instructors and preparations of materials to be delivered
to students should be done in advance.
Instructional methods should be carefully selected to facilitate scientific and technological
transfer. The traditional view of the learning process is typically teacher-centered, with the
teacher or lecturer doing most of the talking and intellectual work, while students are passive
receptacles of the information provided. The lecture method has some value. It allows the
lecturer to quickly convey lots of information to students and is a useful strategy for recall or
rote learning. However, it is not the most effective way to help students develop and use
higher order cognitive skills to solve complex real world problems21. A shift from teachercentered instruction to learner-centered instruction is needed to enable students acquire
today’s knowledge and skills. This will bring changes in the roles of both lecturers and
students.
Teaching has to be approached in a variety of ways that facilitate learning or development.
Cognitive research has revealed that developing intellectual skills, such as those associated
with soft ware engineering, requires explicit instruction and carefully constructed practice in
the context in which such skills will be applied22. Behind all these, there is growing
awareness among policy-makers, business leaders, and educators that the educational system
designed to prepare learners for an agrarian or industrial based economy will not provide
students with the knowledge and skills they will need to thrive in the 21st century’s
knowledge based economy and society23. Teacher need to concentrate on ensuring
availability of ample ability to analyze, synthesize and evaluate the knowledge so acquired.
The development of proper attitudes, interests, and values in students is extremely important
as in the development of physical skills. This implies that there is a need to set objectives
with reference to the affective and psychomotor domains. Examinations should carefully be
set to test whether the objectives have been achieved or not. An evaluation must be frequently
annually to asses the effectiveness of the curriculum24, 19.
A general picture shows that developing countries, African in particular, are confronted with
a number of problems hindering better education environment development. The major
obstacles include: (i) Lack of government commitment to development and education, (ii)
People are more occupied with egoistic needs, (iii) Poor economy and lack of planning hinder
these countries from running the scientific and technological race. (iv) Lack of commitment
makes even the small they could achieve disappear. (v) Political instability, (vi) Economic
hardships (vii) natural disasters.
The essence of including education in National Planning has been discussed. Some effects of
lack of educational planning in third world countries have been highlighted with more
emphasis given to African countries. The educational system in Africa, as it is in many
developing countries, is at a bad situation. The negative attitudes towards life among people
of these nations, makes it difficult to achieve the desired changes. Fast development is
needed. This can only be achieved by a joint venture among, a well thought of group, a
helping hand from such as International Organizations like the World Bank and UNESCO.
4
University – Industry Linkages
Being part of the third mission, the University – industry linkages (UILs) are important
academic endeavour in the knowledge based economies. According to Vega-Jurado et al25,
the third mission embraces all those activities related to the generation, use, application and
exploitation outside academic environments, of the knowledge and other capabilities
available to universities. As a result of this, dynamic new structures are appearing within
universities (technology transfer offices) and hybrid structures are being created with other
agents (science and technology parks, joint institutes) which transcend the institutional
frontier of the university and promote the economic exploitation of its knowledge. However,
in order to attract and bring about tangible university-industry relation, excellence in the
appropriate fields need be attained in the universities26. The existing excellence must be
retained while at the same time attracting and retaining researchers.
In the knowledge economies these UILs forms complex dynamics that link the academy and
the industry. Research universities have adopted an economic mission and become
knowledge entrepreneurs, not only patenting and licensing technologies to the private sector
but also spinning-off commercial enterprises to exploit their own scientific discoveries.
UILs operations are usually carried out through industry-liaison offices (ILOs). These offices
are tasked with the work of building bridges and partnership between the University and
industry, and they are charged with protecting the interest of both the University and the
clients in industry. Fisher and Gosjean27 noted that there are two broad models used to run
these offices. In the first model, some universities operate with an internal model where the
office is fully integrated into the university’s structure. Other universities operate with an
external model where the office operates outside the university either as a non-profit or forprofit corporation. In either case, the corporations are owned totally by the university.
Various advantages are accrued from the positive side of the UILs. As described below,
these benefits are on enriching curriculum and programs; they support students’ training and
employment needs, and they become dependable financing resources.
4.1
Enrichment of Curriculum
One of the benefits accrued from the UILs is the possibility of updating existing curriculum.
The industry being one of the major recipient of graduates, its opinion on the market issues
and influences becomes an important input in the University curriculum review process.
Acceptability of a curriculum is on the merit to meet internal and external demands that are
vested within the industry. Consequently, new University programs are sometimes a result of
the pressure from the industry.
4.2
Financing and Resources
UILs can also provide funds for students and resources for enhancing programs. Various
mechanisms of financing exists amongst which include: provision of technical services; sale
of patents; technology transfer; licensing; and through strategic research partnerships.
Stephan28 noted that over the period of 1991 – 1997 University licensing in the USA
increased from US $ 221 million to US $ 698. On the other hand, the Ormala report29
indicated that the European industries participation and contribution to research costs (Sixth
Framework Programme – FP6) amount 30% of the total. In contrally, it has been observed
that research funding by industries in developing countries is marginalized, as majority of the
Universities are traditionally government owned. However, in the wake of reforms that led to
diminishing government funding, Schiller and Liefner30 noted that University-industry
cooperation is promoted by University administration to gain the additional income.
4.3
Employment Opportunities
A university-industry relation also takes place through practical training and apprenticeship
to students. This interaction has a positive impact to students’ mindset as they become
acquainted with their workplaces to be. Further, the relation built in that way is sometimes
assisting the students after completion of their studies since some are offered employment
after graduation. In the same sense, the interaction helps the industrialists to have a chance
for a direct assessment on the performance of targeted students while they are working on the
collaborative work. The importance of this outcome is the possibility of promoting
engineering education from the fact that the students are assured to be employed.
5
College of Engineering and Technology of the University of Dar es Salaam; the
Case Study
5.1
Case Study Approach
The research leading to this paper was designed by way of a case study. The rationale for the
choice of a case study design is due to the qualitative nature of the analysis being undertaken.
The strength of the case study approach was underscored by Yin31 who explained that a case
study approach is suitable when the objective is to explain “how” and “why” questions in
consideration of specific developments that took place. The case study approach is also said
to be suitable when the research aims to offer a description, to test or generate theory32. To
offer a description is part of the aim of this research work. Yin31 argues that a case study
approach is a comprehensive research method which deals with a range of different sources
of evidence such as interviews, documents, surveys, and observations. Consequently, a
simultaneous analysis of the different types of data so obtained in the case study provides a
concise explanation to the case under consideration. In this respect, the case study approach
was adopted to investigate on the CoET – industry linkages and their importance in
engineering education teaching.
5.2
The College
The College of Engineering and Technology (CoET) of the University of Dar es Salaam
offers BSc., MSc., and Phd programs through 13 academic Departments. Majority of these
departments also offer postgraduate diplomas. The 13 departments are organized into three
faculties namely: Mechanical and Chemical Engineering (MECHE); Civil Engineering and
the Built Environment (CEBE); and Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering (ECSE).
The University Act No. 7 of April 2005 that established CoET simultaneously established
two other units at the CoET namely, the Technology Development and Transfer Centre
(TDTC), and the Bureau for Industrial Cooperation (BICO). The TDTC plays the role of
coordinating technology development and transfer activities at CoET. The TDTC has a semi
autonomous structure that utilizes the versatile expertise from the college staff. To date,
some of the technologies developed and disseminated by the TDTC includes: construction
technologies; mining and mineral processing technologies; small scale sugar processing
technology; and food processing technologies. The CoET outreach program is also
coordinated by the TDTC. In this program, it is the objective of the college to bridge the
knowledge gap in the small and medium scale industries through the provision of technical
services. These services are provided through three different sub programs that include:
innovation systems and clusters program (ISCP); technology/business incubators program;
and including SME clubs.
The Bureau for Industrial Cooperation was established with the aim of coordinating the use
of the college knowledge base and other available resources to support the industry and
contribute to the economic development of Tanzania. In a sense, it an internal not for profit
ILO that has been fully integrated into the CoET management structure. Another important
objective of BICO is to deliver continuing Professional Development Program (PDP) courses
to practicing engineers in industries and other organizations. While majority of the courses
are standard modules, tailor made courses are also provided.
Synergy between the CoET and its units namely TDTC, BICO is depicted in the pillars of
CoET shown in Fig. 2.
Fig. 2: The pillars of CoET
5.3
CoET – Industry Linkages
The CoET – industry linkage is mainly through BICO’s knowledge based services, which
include consultancies, engineering services, and professional development training. In the
period under study the following typical consultancies were provided:
i. Assessment of the effect lightning strikes
ii. Design and installation of ICT management systems in organizations and
institutions
iii. Design and manufacture of various equipments
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
xi.
xii.
xiii.
xiv.
xv.
xvi.
xvii.
xviii.
xix.
xx.
Design and supervision of buildings construction
Development of motor vehicle inspection system
Development of road traffic signs manual and review of related regulations
Development of water demand management (WDM) strategy for urban water and
sewerage Authorities
Development staff appraisal system and procedures and improvement of record
management systems
Electrical installation of standby generators and analyzing the cause of failure of
electrical machines and transformers
Environmental impact assessment component studies and environment audits of
industrial sites and processes
Geo-technical investigation for various projects
Hydrological Analyses
Industrial studies and feasibility studies
Materials testing
Non destructive testing of equipments and buildings
Preparation of a master plans, policies and strategic plans
Reduction of air pollution to institutes and municipality organs through installation
of efficient stoves
Service and maintenance of computer software programs
Soil investigations for construction works
Upsizing various accounts modules to SQL Server
Further to consultancy work, following were the professional development program training
provided to the industry:
i. A series of Various computer modules each lasting for 2 weeks:- Introduction to
Computers, the Internet, Advanced MS Word, MS Excel, MS Access, MS
PowerPoint and Project Management
ii. Bridge loading capacity rating and MATLAB computer programming
iii. Financial management course for Managing Directors and Financial Managers
iv.
Medical/hazardous waste management for practitioners’ course
v. Public procurement procedures and contract management
vi.
Upgrading professional technical skills in various professions that include building
construction and project estimation
The effectiveness with which BICO engages with industry can be measured by analyzing the
income earned from the learned services provided. This can be established from the three
main services provided by BICO to the industry, which include consultancies, engineering
services, and PDP courses. The analysis bases on four years period from 2003 to 2006.
5.3.1 Total BICO Income from Learned Services Provision
As shown in Fig. 3 the overall trend of income earned by BICO has increased almost two
folds over the analyzed period. While the total income in year 2003 was T. Shs. 862 million,
the income in year 2004, 2005, and 2006 was T. Shs. 1,133 million, T. Shs. 987 million, and
T. Shs. 1,435 million respectively.
BICO INCOME
1,000,000,000
1,600,000,000
1,400,000,000
800,000,000
1,200,000,000
700,000,000
1,000,000,000
600,000,000
500,000,000
800,000,000
400,000,000
600,000,000
300,000,000
400,000,000
TOTAL INCOME, T. Shs
FACULTY INCOME, T. Shs
900,000,000
CONSULTANCIES
SERVICES
PDP & WORKSHOP
TOTAL
200,000,000
200,000,000
100,000,000
-
2003
2004
2005
2006
YEAR
Fig. 3: Total BICO income
Compared to income from engineering services and PDP courses, consultancies income have
shown a steady and highest trend over the whole period under analysis. From year 2003 to
2006 earnings from consultancies increased three folds from T. Shs. 359 million to T. Shs.
939 million. The relatively higher income from consultancies compared to other services had
an overall impact in the increased trend in total BICO income. In the same period, income
from engineering services were relatively stagnant at around T. Shs. 300 million where as
income from PDP courses dropped tremendously from T. Shs. 300 million to T. Shs. 100
million.
5.3.2 Income to Individual Faculties
There is an obvious disparity of income earned to individual faculties. The faculty of
MECHE has shown a relatively stable income to all the three services provided to the
industry. The faculty of CEBE was strong in consultancies where as it had the lowest and
decrease income from PDP courses income. The faculty of ECSE had the lowest income in
all the three services, and had nearly no income from engineering services. Incomes from
consultancies and engineering services are shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 respectively.
CONSULTANCIES INCOME
600,000,000
1,000,000,000
800,000,000
700,000,000
400,000,000
600,000,000
300,000,000
500,000,000
400,000,000
200,000,000
300,000,000
TOTAL INCOME, T. Shs
FACULTY INCOME, T. Shs
900,000,000
500,000,000
CEBE
MECHE
ECSE
TOTAL
200,000,000
100,000,000
100,000,000
-
2003
2004
2005
2006
YEAR
Fig. 4: BICO income from consultancies
SERVICES INCOME
160,000,000
250,000,000
200,000,000
120,000,000
100,000,000
150,000,000
80,000,000
100,000,000
60,000,000
40,000,000
TOTAL INCOME, T. Shs
FACULTY INCOME, T. Shs
140,000,000
CEBE
MECHE
ECSE
TOTAL
50,000,000
20,000,000
-
2003
2004
2005
2006
YEAR
Fig. 5: BICO income from engineering services
The disparities of income to the different faculties have a direct impact on the respective staff
and students. The high income to other faculties is likely to affect positively on their
academic work since the extra income earned can be used to subsidize the existing teaching
cost and other related overheads. Further, the high workload to these high income faculties
will usually be passed o students in terms of assignments and paid work pieces. This in turn
have an overall positive impact to the students. On the other hand, in absence of any paid
industrial activity, the tendency will be to limit the level of activity and, consequently,
students will be bound to rely on theoretical aspects only.
6
Conclusion and Recommendations
Education and knowledge is a core element in to development since it will impart people with
positive mindset and culture that cherish human development through hard work,
professionalism, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovativeness. In this respect, lifelong
learning need be adopted for imparting key competencies necessary for living and working in
a modern research driven innovative society. Key competencies include: communication in
the mother tongue and foreign languages; mathematical and science and technology; digital;
learning-to-learn; and cultural expression.
Excellence in engineering education is an important factor in maintaining competencies of
engineering universities. The main competency expected from the universities is for their
capability to produce engineers who will make the nation responsive to eminent societal
problems and prepare them for their future engineering engagement. Refocusing and
reshaping the undergraduate and graduate engineering learning experience is therefore
necessary for meeting this endeavour. This will involve restructuring of engineering
programs, reallocation of resources, and refocusing of faculty and professional society time
and energy. Due to the global marketplace for engineering services, engineering universities
must take these challenges by producing global engineers whose skill set includes: language
and cultural skills; teamwork and group dynamics skills; knowledge of the business and
engineering cultures of counterpart countries; and knowledge of international variations in
engineering education and practice.
However, for the universities to have a smooth undertaking of frontier research leading to
innovation requires a regulatory environment that is predictable; accommodates and even
encourages new developments in goods and services; protects intellectual property; and
provides open, interoperable standards. Further, Coherent innovation policies are necessary
for lowering barriers and to mitigate the perceived risks of failure to knowledge based
businesses. Governments need operate a range of a series of schemes for supporting
investment in start-up companies, and in some cases operating seed financing schemes
directly. The government funding need be used to provide incentives to private funds to
invest in small companies where the minimal prospective funds might otherwise have
discouraged like in University spin-offs.
The University – Industry linkage, which is part of the university’s third mission, is an
important academic endeavour in the knowledge based economies. The linkages embrace all
those activities related to the generation, use, application and exploitation outside academic
environments, of the knowledge and other capabilities available to universities. Advantages
accrued from the University – industry linkages are due to the possibility of enriching
curriculum and programs; they support students’ training and employment needs, and they
are dependable financing resources.
Findings of the case study presented this paper have shown that there is a direct linkage
between the CoET and industry through consultancies, engineering services, and PDP
training courses that are offered through BICO. The BICO as an internal ILO has facilitated
and provides the necessary coordination to the linkage. The effectiveness of the linkage as
measured through the income from BICO activities has shown an increased trend over the
period of year 2003 to 2006. Total BICO income has doubled from T. Shs. 862 million in
year 2003 to T. Shs. 1,435 million in 2006. In the same period, income from consultancies
increased three folds from T. Shs. 359 million to T. Shs. 939 million.
There was an obvious disparity amongst the faculties in the income earned from the provision
of learned services. For instance, while the income from consultancies to the faculty of
ECSE was below T. Shs. 100 million over the four years under analysis, the income to the
faculty of MECHE was relatively stable ranging between T. Shs. 127 million to T. Shs. 305
million. On the other hand, the income to the faculty of CEBE increased from 161 million to
564 million. In year 2006 alone the income earned from consultancies to the three faculties
was T. Shs. 70 million, T. Shs. 305 1,435 million, and T. Shs. 564 million respectively. As
the income earned by the respective faculties is intended to meet financial obligations within
the faculties, it is expected that faculties with higher income benefited most. Similarly, high
income faculties are having more activities in respect of the service being provided. It is
from these activities that the students are also benefiting on the practical side of their
academic endeavour. However, to understand the manner and extent with which the student
benefited or whether the increased level of consultancy activity to BICO has really assisted in
engineering teaching at CoET remains to be an area for further research.
Local Tanzanian industries are rarely involved in the learned research. This has been shown
by the absence of research activity in the entire consultancy works reported in this paper.
The low research base in the local industries is attributed to many factors that include:
 Low level of industrial development
 Majority of the factories are not primary but rather utilize semi finished materials
to produce the respective goods
 The ongoing trade liberalization in the country has resulted into many industries
being stagnant waiting for the divestiture process
However, CoET is undertaking research in collaboration with the international community as
indicated in Table 1.
Table 1: Research collaborating institutions
RESEARCH COLLABORATING
INSTITUTION
GTZ, NORAD, SDC, JICA, USAID, TEA,
MHO, NTNU
Sida/SAREC, NUFFIC, DANIDA, NUFU
UNESCO/ANSTI
AICAD
University of Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique
University of Makerere, Uganda
Dortmund University, Germany
TU-Eindhoven, Netherlands
Kyambogo University
Harvard University, USA
KTH & BTH, Sweden, MIT
Carnegie Corporation, USA
KOICA, Japan
ZTE China
RESEARCH AREA AND
OBJECTIVE
Institutional development support
Capacity building in engineering, R&D
and related training
Scholarships/research equipment
R&D support
Research collaboration
Student exchange and research
collaboration
Teaching and learning
Innovation/entrepreneurship/business
Research collaboration, distance
education, i-Lab
Technology/business incubation
Upgrading of ICT infrastructure and
capacity
Equipment support in telecoms
engineering
In order to optimize the benefits accrued from the University – industry linkages at CoET,
following recommendations are derived from this work:
i.
The confidence imparted to the industries while undertaking the consultancies and
engineering services need go further into identifying nice research areas, which
could be undertaken in collaboration with the industries
ii. While the disparity in income from the provisions of learned services can be
bridged by stimulating entrepreneurship to the low income faculties, BICO need
institute an appropriate incentive mechanism so as to limit the negative effect
associated with the less active faculties
iii. BICO need put in place a proper mechanism to ensure a direct and necessary
participation of students in ongoing consultancies
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