Short Abstract:

Partnerships between industry and academics offer a fruitful path for engaged academics as well as innovative and productive partners. This Roundtable hosts industry representatives to explore their experiences, needs, and the parameters they face in soliciting solutions (temporal, financial, political, bureaucratic, communication, etc.).

Long Abstract:

Research partnerships between industry and academics are key to the future of impactful, engaged, adequately funded and public-facing university activity. This Roundtable hosts industry representatives to explore their experiences, needs and opportunities, and the parameters they face in soliciting solutions to shared challenges (temporal, financial, political, bureaucratic, communication, etc.). The Roundtable will feature 5-10 minute insights from five industry representatives who have partnered with academics to find solutions to real-world problems, or who have found such collaborations challenging. The session will be Chaired by Dr Patrick Guay, Research Partnerships Coordinator in the Faculty of Arts and Education, and Industry Professor, Dr David Halliwell, Director of Research Partnerships in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment. The discussion will focus on a number of key questions and provocations to generate a lively discussion about the future of research partnerships, including:

What kinds of ‘soft’ problems are faced by the public and private sector, industry and government?

What challenges have prompted industry to reach out to the university sector to forge partnerships?

How do industry partners articulate non-technical problems and how do they envisage solutions?

What are the barriers to engaging with non-technical researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences?

How might more fruitful, mutually satisfying collaborations be fostered?