Industry-university collaboration in research and development: a case study of programs in Thailand and Australia

The funding of university activities has long been a point of discussion within and without universities. With an increasing worldwide trend towards self-funding, many universities see collaborations as a potential source of extra income. Not all collaboration programs will involve funding, but financial benefits to the university and technology benefits to industry are positive outcomes often sought from collaboration. Collaboration programs offer many benefits other than the immediate gains from the collaborative program. This paper will present case studies of collaborative programs conducted by a school of engineering and technology in an Australian university. While the emphasis will be research and development other avenues of collaboration will be examined. The paper will also discuss me transfer of the collaboration methodologies to universities in Thailand. pitfalls to be avoided when embarking on collaboration will be discussed. When programs am planned and executed appropriately, the benefits of collaboration programs will outweigh the costs for all partners in the program.