When higher education pairs its research talent with industry expertise and investment, technological innovation accelerates at pace. The combined resources have a multiplier effect, allowing new tech to be taken out of the lab and into society.
The public money invested in research impacts people via social gains – by improving their lives and solving problems. It also impacts businesses by driving innovation and economic growth.
Endeavours to find solutions to complex social, environmental and economic challenges – for example, in energy, environment, health or security – have increasingly required collaboration between universities and industry because few organizations have the internal capacity to deliver results on their own.
According to the Harvard Business Review, there has been an explosion in the number of research deals between companies and universities in recent years. Reduced spending on early-stage research has seen companies turning to universities, and specifically scientific and engineering experts, to perform that role. Universities have been more receptive in light of decreased government support of academic research, and the demand to contribute more to their local economies.
As a highly valuable two-way exchange of information, the benefits of collaboration are strong for all parties involved. Companies can access the forefront of scientific understanding through working with leading academics and are able to set specific objectives to match particular company needs at the time.
Additionally, industry is able to interact with a highly-skilled graduate pool, enhancing the efficiency of scientific development. The value that the industry-academia relationship can bring is well recognized, with some companies employing individual project management staff specifically operating on collaboration projects with individual universities.
More and more, universities are appreciating the benefits of a relationship with industrial partners. From furthering research and scaling it, to important funding opportunities, the relationship between academics and industry is evolving all the time. Instead of one-off projects, both sides have become much more interested in forging long-term, collaborative relationships.
Companies make technological breakthroughs on the back of fundamental research conducted in academic institutes, and those institutes look to businesses to take their work to the end user.
The two can feel worlds apart, but links are growing stronger. Every year, we see more industry-academia collaborations and more people transitioning across the divide – the University of Oxford-AstraZeneca covid vaccine is the most high profile recent example of this shift.
There are obvious differences in objective. Academics are focused on the pursuit of knowledge, while industry researchers are driven by the application of that knowledge and more focused on outcomes and delivery of milestones.
Secondly, driven by the pursuit of milestones, working in a company means that everyone is trying to achieve the same objectives, which can lead to real multiplying effects when bringing together multi-disciplinary teams.
The High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult was established by Innovate UK, to bridge the gap between business and academia, helping to turn great ideas into reality by providing access to world-class research and development facilities and expertise that would otherwise be out of reach for many businesses in the UK.
The HVM Catapult relationship with universities runs deep with seven universities as founding partners and over 100 active collaborations with universities.
Their role is:
"SharpCloud as a platform is ideally placed to house multi-faceted technology roadmaps and plans where diverse stakeholders require different levels of insight or cuts of the information. Collaboration and communication are at the heart of our work."
- Sam Turner, Chief Technology Officer at
SharpCloud currently works with a number of the HVMC Centres, helping them to break the limitations of traditional technology roadmaps. Using SharpCloud, the centers can show the relationships and interdependencies across various technology roadmaps and communicate the best ways forward more effectively both internally and with commercial members. This improved collaboration ensures fundamental research projects are prioritized.
The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) is a network of world-leading research and innovation centers working with manufacturing companies of any size from around the globe. The AMRC was established in 2001 as a £15 million collaboration between the University of Sheffield and aerospace giant Boeing, with support from Yorkshire Forward and the European Regional Development Fund.
The AMRC helps manufacturers of any size become more competitive by introducing advanced techniques, technologies and processes. They do this by carrying out world-leading research into advanced machining, manufacturing, and materials, which are of practical use to industry.
Their 125-plus industrial partners range from global giants like Boeing, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, and Airbus to small companies. Businesses can work with them on a one-off project, or join as a member for long-term collaboration.
"Using SharpCloud enables us to communicate more effectively which ensures that we are working on fundamental research projects today, which will allow us to continue to solve industries' future challenges.”
- Pete Osborne, Senior Technical Fellow at the AMRC
Academic partnerships are a win-win and the industry will continue to need academia for new technology developments and skills.
For academics, the opportunity of exposure to cutting-edge facilities and resources is a natural attraction to working alongside companies, as well as the inherent networking and funding opportunities that the industry provides.
Connecting with Industry bridges a gap and brings experts in key areas together to drive collaborative innovation and help turn great ideas into reality.