Industry Interactions

At the October, 2003 meeting of the Alliance, a panel was held to discuss industry intereaction. The panel, chaired by Jack Linehan of the Whitaker Foundation, featured the following panel members:

John Abele, Boston Scientific
Dawn Applegate, Applegate & Associates
Art Coury, Genzyme Corporation
Josh Makower, Transvascular

Mr. Coury and Dr. Makower provided slide presentations which are included here:

• Art Coury slides
• Josh Makower slides

Ways in which Industry and BME programs interact

• Course Mentors
• Course Tutors
• Individual Project advisors
• Funding sources for projects or program
• Speakers/Lecturers
• Keynote speakers
• Networking agents
• Sources of internships
• Judges for contests or project evaluation
• Sponsors for various aspects of the program
• Collaborators

Issues

Identified at 2005 Meeting

• Developing effective industry partnerships
• Difficulty getting technical advisors (and often funding) for projects sponsored by clinicians or other non-engineers
• Establishing external collaborations appropriate for students
• Sponsors for events, projects
• Resolution of IP concerns from industrial sponsor providing real projects for our Masters of Engineering (M.Eng) Program
• Developing and sustaining goof corporate partnerships
• Identifying/recruiting external mentors for projects
• Experienced design mentors
• Support from industry

Ideas

Identified at 2005 Meeting

• Bootstrapping, with larger student numbers
• Leverage industrial involvement internships
• IP: Bigger issue for faculty than industry, for faculty that rely on design projects
• Potential Sources for Industry/Other partnerships
  • Local Med School/Teaching Hospital – this is especially true at universities with large Medical Schools (e.g., approximately 50% of design projects at UM are sponsored by Medical or Dental School labs).
  • Local Vet School – several universities have large Vet Schools. Just like a hospital, this is a great source of recurring projects (A&M taps this resource regularly).
  • National Labs – many universities have national labs either on or close to campus. NASA has sponsored design projects both at A&M and UM.
  • VA & Rehab Centers – there are many rehab centers around the country linked with the VA system.
  • Charity organizations (Easter Seals, Lighthouse ...) – they cannot provide specific projects, but they can help broker projects with local organizations in need.
  • World Health Organization, Gates Foundation, Engineers without Borders, Engineer World Health... – leverage resources of organizations promoting world health and improved health care in the 3 rd world
  • Angels – angels come in all ranks, from cashed-out executive officers of large corporations to recent graduates working in a start-up. Keeping in touch with graduates is a great way to keep them current with the department (e.g., UCI) and maximize the opportunities for design projects with their companies. Finally, a potentially great source of angels is the local chapter of the Society of Retired Engineers.