The need for closer collaboration between universities, corporations

February 12, 2012, 5:55 pm , The Island.


Welcome

Welcome to the seventy seventh (77th ) edition of the regular column "The Catalyst".

Here, we discuss a wide range of topics around Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), many aspects of Business, SME Development, Agriculture, Education, Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Innovation and the Society at large.

Innovation

If you have been following this column, you would remember that last week we discussed about the importance of creativity and innovation for the progress of a country. However, I think it’s evident that one column of an article does not do justice to the broad topic that is ‘creativity and innovation’.

Just to remind everyone a few snippets from last week; "Creativity is the ability to see things differently and have an original idea, and innovation is the ability to make new ideas actually happen."

One thing that was stressed and discussed was the need to develop the innovative culture within us. The feeling that ‘we can do’ needs to be injected.

Michael Porter, in his book "Competitive advantage of nations" has described the ability to innovate as one the key things for securing the well being of a nation. And that is why we have been discussing the importance of it for Sri Lanka too.

Industry-academia collaboration

Last week we touched on the topic of industry-academia collaboration. Research is a key factor driving innovation in a society. And one of the best places to carry out research is within a university. This is where industry-academia collaboration can help. Companies can work with universities to research and develop different things. The industrial body, usually funds the research either financially or through the provision of facilities. If a new innovation is born, the company takes it to the market. A win-win situation for all that’s involved. If the university students and staff discover some important new knowledge, again the company can use it for their benefit.

One of our readers took the time to write to us in detail after reading last weeks’ column, concurring with what we discussed and also adding more perspectives. I thought I will discuss some of it here as that insight reveals certain methodologies used by other countries. Of course we can and have to localise them to suit our needs, but then again these examples and models will help us in our thinking.

Ranil Jayanetti is a Sri Lankan currently living in Switzerland. He is a Research & Development Engineer for a company there.

Ranil points out that in Europe, universities and companies work together much more closely than in Sri Lanka. His personal experiences are narrated from the time he did his internship and his thesis at two leading car manufacturing companies during his Masters degree in Germany. Over there, the companies use university resources to find solutions to their technical problems.

During his two year Masters program in Polymer Technology in Germany, he was given the chance to do a six month industrial internship. His task was to identify mold technologies to make vehicle prototype parts in a cost-effective manner. Usually molds are made of steel and can produce about 200,000 parts, but are expensive. A leading car manufacturer generally makes 50-60 prototype cars; so steel molds are not very useful. The task that Ranil was given, didn’t involve development of technology itself, but to search for new technologies that are still unknown to the company. Through this process of recruiting a student to do this work, the company makes financial savings (payment of about €600 as opposed to €3500 for a qualified engineer). Additionally, the student brings new thinking and ideas. The student can also get guidance from a professor as to which direction to go, which helps both the student in his personal career and also the company.

Ranil further explained that the study program involved a thesis written over a six month period. Around the same time, another leading car manufacturer had introduced its new car series into the market and had noted a quality problem in one of the parts of its body. Ranil as a student researcher, had set up a series of activities to understand the problem, then searched for new test methods to characterize the problem, and had isolated the possible causes.

He has also given us details about an institute by the name of ‘Steinbeis’ that allows a university professor to use his lab resources and set up a centre that transfers knowledge to the industry. He needs to pay a fee to the university for using the resources and is also allowed to employ people on a salary. The academic can actually make a profit out of this business. It’s a win-win situation for all, and most importantly the industry is supported by research capabilities of the university in terms of both human resources as well as facilities. Using this method small scale companies can get easy access to the latest knowledge. Germany is a country where there are many medium scale companies which are world leaders in their respective fields. I am sure the above working models have helped in achieving that.

Sometime back we discussed about an innovative proposal by a Sri Lankan professional called Tilak Dissanayake (tilak@antsglobal.lk) that uses the strengths of existing technologies such as ICT (Information and Communications Technology), electronics, compressed air motors, and wind energy and has combined them in innovative ways to resolve the long standing issue of getting fresh produce to the market at a fair price to both producers and consumers. I am sure such ideas can be strengthened and tried in research with the support of academia and the university sector.

Even aspects like farming and agriculture can be improved and also be made attractive as a career choice if innovation is introduced in a stronger effective way. One reason that farming is considered a good career option in countries like Australia is the use of technology. Youngsters don’t necessarily feel that they live in the past as agriculture actually moves with time. We need that involvement too. If we don’t, we wouldn’t be able to compete on the production or the cost scale of the other countries anyway.

I hope these practical insights give our industry and academia a few things to think about.

Safeguarding Sri Lanka’s Oceans

An area that seems to need a lot of innovation is around protecting and safeguarding Sri Lanka’s oceans.

This is a very important subject. A few days ago some newspapers reported that Indian boats are bottom trawling our waters. Bottom trawling is about dragging fishing nets along the sea floor, which is very damaging to maritime resources since this can wipe out species in massive numbers. Illegal poaching in our waters takes place every day by illegal boats. We need to take action and protect our resources for the future generations.

Regulations, coast guard and an overall strategy are important to tackle these issues. That’s where creativity and innovation with forward thinking can be utilised practically for the betterment of the country.

In this light, the Kadirgamar Institute is organising an event with the international Fisheries and Maritime expert, Mr John Church to speak on Protecting and Safeguarding Sri Lanka’s Oceans for the Benefit of Present and Future Generations.

Mr Church will present on VMS (Vessel Monitoring Systems), MCS (Monitor Control and Surveillance of All Vessels), and FMPP (Fisheries Management Protection Programme), and discuss the technical, financial, and political aspects of such programmes.

Mr John Church, who has developed Fisheries Management Protection Programme (FMPP) propositions for Sri Lanka, has extensive experience of the consultation, background research, implementation and operation of VMS, MCS, and FMPP installations worldwide including the UK, USA, and the following countries: Cyprus, Eire, Equatorial Guinea, Falklands, Ghana, Greece, Indonesia, Liberia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, St. Helena, Sierra Leone, Puntland State of Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania and Yemen.

The Kadirgamar Institute encourages all to participate and benefit from this presentation on this burning topic of national interest. The forum will be held at the Kadirgamar Institute in Colombo on February 13 (today) from 5:00 to 6:00pm.

Get in Touch

You may have experiences and suggestions for future discussions in this column. If you like, you can share them with us and those would add further value to our readers.

"Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprung up." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

The touch point to get in touch is yva@lankabpoacademy.lk

See you next week!





The Columnist

Yasas Vishuddhi Abeywickrama is a professional with significant experiences. In 2011 he was recognised as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in Sri Lanka. Yasas has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from University of Colombo and a Masters degree in Entrepreneurship & Innovation from Swinburne University in Australia. He has worked in the USA, UK, Sri Lanka & Australia and being trained in the USA & Malaysia. He is currently involved in the training organisation, Lanka BPO Academy (www.lankabpoacademy.lk). Yasas is also an Executive Council Member of the Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL – www.cssl.lk). Apart from this column, he is a regular resource person for ‘Ape Gama’ program of FM Derana (Sunday 3-5pm). Yasas is happy to answer your relevant questions – email him at yva@lankabpoacademy.lk