Welcome to the EPC’s Crucible Project toolkit. Here you will find EPC’s landmark project supporting university and industry collaboration in engineering by showcasing and sharing the keys to success.
The Crucible Project was inspired by the EPC’s landmark 2020 Annual Congress, Industry and Academia: Supercharging the Crucible, which highlighted five areas of mutual interest. This toolkit includes case studies from a wide range of HE institutions and industry partners, focussing on these five themes which can all be accessed via the links below:
Universities' and businesses' shared role in regional development
This section lists all the case studies that come under the Universities’ and Businesses’ Shared Role in Regional Development theme, one of the five themes identified during the EPC’s landmark 2020 Annual Congress, “Industry & Academia: Supercharging the Crucible”, from a wide range of HE providers and industry partners:
| Case Study Title | Other Themes/Keywords | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Driving Innovation to Decarbonise a City Region: Greater Manchester Energy Innovation Agency | Decarbonisation, Local Energy, Skills, Economic Growth |
Amer Gaffar, Dr Ian Madley, Prof Bamidele Adebisi |
| Newcastle University and brightening the future for the North East | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Knowledge exchange, Research, Graduate employability and recruitment, Electrification, Collaboration Skills, Newcastle |
Prof Matt Boyle OBE |
| Maximising Benefits of Regional Development Funding to Companies, Academics, and Students | Knowledge Exchange, Regional Development Funding, Innovation Enterprise Zone | Prof Tony Dodd, Marek Hornak and Rachel Wood |
| Staying Local to Go Far: Supporting Regional Development through Collaborations with Global Reach | Skills, Research, Innovation, Collaboration, Biopharma, Healthcare | Dr Mark Corbett, Prof John S. Young and Prof Vikki Rand |
| Industrial Digitalisation MSc Students Supporting Regional Development | Graduate employability and recruitment, PrintCity, industrial digitalisation, 3D printing | Peter Gough and Prof Craig Banks |
| Educating engineers to contribute to a regional goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2030 |
Education for Sustainable Development, Climate Emergency, Net Zero, Sustainable Development Goals |
Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers |
| Partnership Approaches in a New, Engineering-Focussed HEI | Knowledge exchange, Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Challenge-based Learning, Timber Technology, Levelling-up, Skills, Future of Work | Ben Ricketts, Prof Beverley Gibbs and Harriet Dearden |
| Using an Innovation Standard Framework to Drive Knowledge Exchange Growth, Value and Impact | Knowledge exchange, Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Research, Innovation Benchmarking, Innovation Portfolios, Innovation-driven Leadership, ISO 56002, Industrial Collaboration, Growth | Prof Sa’ad Sam Medhat |
| Sheffield Innovation Programme | Knowledge exchange, Research, Graduate employability and recruitment, Innovation, SMEs | Alex Prince and Prof Wayne Cranton |
| Stimulating Growth of an SME to Support Railway Infrastructure | Knowledge exchange, Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Graduate employability and recruitment, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Design and Innovation, Student Projects, Railway Infrastructure | Prof Simon Barrans, Harvey Kangley, Greg Jones and Mark Newton |
Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning
This section lists all the case studies that come under the Collaborating with Industry for Teaching and Learning theme, one of the five themes identified during the EPC’s landmark 2020 Annual Congress, “Industry & Academia: Supercharging the Crucible”, from a wide range of HE providers and industry partners:
| Case Study Title | Other Themes/Keywords | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Revising Approaches for a Joined Up Methodology | Knowledge exchange, Graduate employability and recruitment, Industry, Engineering Education, Authenticity, Collaboration |
Dr Gareth Thomson, Dr Jakub Sacharkzuk and Paul Gretton |
| An Industry-Student Mentoring Scheme 2010-2022 | Mentors, Mentees, Civil Engineering | Dr Mike Murray |
| Connected Curriculum: Partnering Academia and Industry | Knowledge exchange, Research, Graduate employability and recruitment, Digitalisation, Partnership, Collaboration, Network |
Steve Jones, Associate Prof David Hughes, Prof Ion Sucala, Dr Aris Alexoulis and Dr Martino Luis |
| Importance of Industrial Advisory Boards | IET, Industrial Advisory Boards | Dr Carl Diver and Jake Godfrey |
| Stimulating Growth of an SME to Support Railway Infrastructure |
Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Knowledge exchange, Graduate employability and recruitment, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Design and Innovation, Student Projects, Railway Infrastructure |
Prof Simon Barrans, Harvey Kangley, Greg Jones and Mark Newton |
| Successful Industry-Academia Collaboration in Design, Delivery, and Assessment of WBL Engineering Degree Apprenticeship Programmes at Aston University |
WBL, Degree Apprenticeship, Engineering | Dr Goudarz Poursharif, Dr Panos Doss and Bill Glew |
| Video interviews of engineers in industry for use by staff and students in Engineering Business modules |
Industry, Interview, Video, Real Life, Engineers | Prof Lucy Rogers and Petra Gratton |
| Metaverse in Education – a partnership between University of Glasgow and EON Reality | Mixed Reality, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Metaverse |
Dr Sajjad Hussain, Dr Hasan T Abbas, Dr Qammer H Abbasi, Prof Muhammad Imran, Mark Cullens, Marcin Kasica and Dr Renah Wolzinger |
| Bridging the gap between academic and employing organisations in an ever-changing world | Academia, Industry | Ian Hobson and Dr Vasilios Samaras |
| Putting Theory into Practice | Applying Lean Techniques | Andrew Thorn |
| Guest Lectures: Stakeholder Insights to Enhance the Student Experience and Foster Industry-Academia Partnerships |
Guest lectures, Guest speakers | Dr Robert Mayer |
| Emergency Shelter Digital Design Project, A UCL / Multiplex Collaboration |
Graduate employability and recruitment, Civil Engineering Design, Building Information Modelling, BIM, Digital Engineering, Industry, Collaboration |
James Ford |
| Notre Dame Cathedral Roof Design Project, A UCL / ARUP Collaboration |
Graduate employability and recruitment, Civil Engineering Design, Timber Design, Industry, Collaboration |
James Ford |
| Timber Technology Engineering and Design (TED) – an educational approach for future built environment delivery |
Knowledge exchange, Timber, Built Environment, Collaboration, New Educational Model | Prof Robert Hairstans, Dr Mila Duncheva, Dr Kenneth Leitch, Dr Andrew Livingston, Kirsty Connell-Skinner and Tabitha Binding |
| Improving User Experience Skills in Health Informatics in Wales | Knowledge exchange, Knowledge transfer, User Experience, Data Visualisation, Health Informatics | Associate Prof Nik Whitehead, Prof Wendy Dearing and Prof Ian Wells |
| Inclusive Innovation: Harnessing Industrial and Academic Research Collaboration for Solving Industry Problems |
Knowledge exchange, Research, Digital Twin, Model Driven Engineering, Inclusive Innovation | Prof Balbir Barn, Prof Tony Clark, Vinay Kulkarni and Dr Souvik Barat |
| Development of an Authentic Writing Activity with Industry | Graduate employability and recruitment, Authentic Learning | Dr Becky Selwyn, David Pullinger and Dr Irene Renaud-Assemat |
| Partnership Approaches in a New, Engineering-Focussed HEI | Knowledge exchange, Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Challenge-based Learning, Timber Technology, Levelling-up, Skills, Future of Work | Ben Ricketts (NMITE), Prof Beverley Gibbs (NMITE) and Harriet Dearden (NMITE) |
| E21 – ‘Engineering the Future’ at the University of Exeter with a USP of Entrepreneurship and collaboration with Royal Society Entrepreneurs in Residence | Graduate employability and recruitment, Knowledge exchange, Gold Standard Project Based Learning, EntreComp, 21st Century Skills, Entrepreneur in Residence, Collaboration | Dr Corrina Cory, Nick Russill and Prof Steve Senior |
| Newcastle University and brightening the future for the North East | Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Knowledge exchange, Research, Graduate employability and recruitment, Electrification, Collaboration Skills, Newcastle | Prof Matt Boyle OBE |
| Using an Innovation Standard Framework to Drive Knowledge Exchange Growth, Value and Impact | Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Knowledge exchange, Research, Graduate employability and recruitment Innovation Benchmarking, Innovation Portfolios, Innovation-driven Leadership, ISO 56002, Industrial Collaboration, Growth | Prof Sa’ad Sam Medhat |
| Re-engineering Education: Pushing the boundaries of Academic-Industrial Partnerships | Graduate employability and recruitment, Partnerships, Academic, Industry | Bob Tricklebank and Sue Parr |
| Industry and Engineering Academics – Collaboration Starts with Discovery | Knowledge exchange, Industry, Academic Expertise, Collaboration, Commercial Engagement, Content, Search, Discovery, Innovation, Invention | Deanne Taenzer and Kendra Gerlach |
| Scholarship, Synergy & Transformational Change: Using Research to Inform Strategy at a Time of Uncertainty | Research, Graduate employability and recruitment, Transformational Change, Industry-Education Partnerships, Educational Research, Scholarship | Associate Prof Graeme Knowles, Dr Jane Andrews and Professor Robin Clark |
Knowledge exchange
This section lists all the case studies that come under the Knowledge Exchange theme, one of the five themes identified during the EPC’s landmark 2020 Annual Congress, “Industry & Academia: Supercharging the Crucible”, from a wide range of HE providers and industry partners:
| Case Study Title | Other Themes/Keywords | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Partnership approaches in a new, engineering-focussed HEI |
Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Challenge-based Learning, Timber Technology, Levelling-up, Skills, Future of Work | Ben Ricketts, Prof Beverley Gibbs and Harriet Dearden |
| Using an Innovation Standard Framework to Drive Knowledge Exchange Growth, Value and Impact | Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Research, Innovation Benchmarking, Innovation Portfolios, Innovation-driven Leadership, ISO 56002, Industrial Collaboration, Growth | Prof Sa’ad Sam Medhat |
| Auxetic Materials and Tennis Rackets | Sport, Tennis, Material, Auxetic, Mechanics | Dr Tom Allen, Prof Andy Alderson and Dr Stefan Mohr |
| Sheffield Innovation Programme | Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Research, Graduate employability and recruitment, Innovation, SMEs | Alex Prince and Prof Wayne Cranton |
| Industry and Engineering Academics – Collaboration Starts with Discovery | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Industry, Academic Expertise, Collaboration, Knowledge Exchange, Commercial Engagement, Content, Search, Discovery, Innovation, Invention | Deanne Taenzer and Kendra Gerlach |
| Timber Technology Engineering and Design (TED) – an educational approach for future built environment delivery |
Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Timber, Built Environment, Collaboration, New Educational Model | Prof Robert Hairstans, Dr Mila Duncheva, Dr Kenneth Leitch, Dr Andrew Livingston, Kirsty Connell-Skinner and Tabitha Binding |
| Improving User Experience Skills in Health Informatics in Wales | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Research, Knowledge transfer, User Experience, Data Visualisation, Health Informatics | Associate Prof Nik Whitehead, Prof Wendy Dearing and Prof Ian Wells |
| Inclusive Innovation: Harnessing Industrial and Academic Research Collaboration for Solving Industry Problems | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Digital Twin, Model Driven Engineering, Inclusive Innovation | Prof Balbir Barn, Prof Tony Clark, Vinay Kulkarni and Dr Souvik Barat |
| E21 – ‘Engineering the Future’ at the University of Exeter with a USP of Entrepreneurship and collaboration with Royal Society Entrepreneurs in residence | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Graduate employability and recruitment, Gold Standard Project Based Learning, EntreComp, 21st Century Skills, Entrepreneur in Residence, Collaboration | Dr Corrina Cory, Nick Russill and Prof Steve Senior |
| Revising Approaches for a Joined Up Methodology | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Graduate employability and recruitment, Industry, Engineering, Education, Authenticity, Collaboration | Dr Gareth Thomson, Dr Jakub Sacharkzuk and Paul Gretton |
| Newcastle University and brightening the future for the North East | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Research, Graduate employability and recruitment, Electrification, Collaboration Skills, Newcastle | Prof Matt Boyle OBE |
| Planning Multiple Active Space Debris Removal using Machine Learning and Quantum-Inspired Computing | Research, Space, Debris Removal, Sustainability, Optimisation | Dr Matteo Ceriotti, Niven Payne, Giulia Viavattene, Ellen Devereux, Dr David Snelling and Matthew Nuckley |
| Maximising Benefits of Regional Development Funding to Companies, Academics, and Students | Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Regional Development Funding, Innovation Enterprise Zone | Prof Tony Dodd, Marek Hornak and Rachel Wood |
| Connected Curriculum: Partnering Academia and Industry | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Research, Graduate employability and recruitment, Digitalisation, Partnership, Collaboration, Network | Steve Jones, Associate Prof David Hughes, Prof Ion Sucala, Dr Aris Alexoulis and Dr Martino Luis |
| Stimulating Growth of an SME to Support Railway Infrastructure |
Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Graduate employability and recruitment, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Design and Innovation, Student Projects, Railway Infrastructure | Prof Simon Barrans, Harvey Kangley, Greg Jones and Mark Newton |
Research
This section lists all the case studies that come under the Research theme, one of the five themes identified during the EPC’s landmark 2020 Annual Congress, “Industry & Academia: Supercharging the Crucible”, from a wide range of HE providers and industry partners:
| Case Study Title | Other Themes/Keywords | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Inclusive Innovation: Harnessing Industrial and Academic Research Collaboration for Solving Industry Problems | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Knowledge exchange, Digital Twin, Model Driven Engineering, Inclusive Innovation | Prof Balbir Barn, Prof Tony Clark, Vinay Kulkarni and Dr Souvik Barat |
| Development of Advanced Computer Models to Study Renewable Energy Integration in the UK | Electrical Engineering, Power Systems, Renewable Energy, Computer Model | Dr Grazia Todeschini and Kah Leong-Koo |
| Planning Multiple Active Space Debris Removal using Machine Learning and Quantum-Inspired Computing | Knowledge exchange, Space, Debris Removal, Sustainability, Optimisation | Dr Matteo Ceriotti, Niven Payne, Giulia Viavattene, Ellen Devereux, Dr David Snelling and Matthew Nuckley |
| Climbing the TRL ladder – Demonstration Testing for an Innovative Mooring Solution | Mooring, Floating Wind, Technology Readiness Level (TRL), Component Testing | Prof Philipp Thies and David Newsam |
| Scholarship, Synergy & Transformational Change: Using Research to Inform Strategy at a Time of Uncertainty | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Graduate employability and recruitment, Transformational Change, Industry-Education Partnerships, Educational Research, Scholarship | Associate Prof Graeme Knowles, Dr Jane Andrews and Professor Robin Clark |
| Newcastle University and brightening the future for the North East | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Knowledge exchange, Graduate employability and recruitment, Electrification, Collaboration Skills, Newcastle | Prof Matt Boyle OBE |
| Using an Innovation Standard Framework to Drive Knowledge Exchange Growth, Value and Impact | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Knowledge exchange, Innovation Benchmarking, Innovation Portfolios, Innovation-driven Leadership, ISO 56002, Industrial Collaboration, Growth | Prof Sa’ad Sam Medhat |
| Participation and Belonging to Engineering – an Intersectionality Lens | Graduate employability and recruitment, Science and Social Capitals, Sense of Belonging, Intersectionality, Student Success | Dr Salma Al Arefi |
| Sheffield Innovation Programme | Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Knowledge exchange, Graduate employability and recruitment, Innovation, SMEs | Alex Prince and Prof Wayne Cranton |
| Connected Curriculum: Partnering Academia and Industry | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Knowledge exchange, Graduate employability and recruitment, Digitalisation, Partnership, Collaboration, Network | Steve Jones, Associate Prof David Hughes, Prof Ion Sucala, Dr Aris Alexoulis and Dr Martino Luis |
Graduate employability and recruitment
This section lists all the case studies that come under the Graduate Employability and Recruitment theme, one of the five themes identified during the EPC’s landmark 2020 Annual Congress, “Industry & Academia: Supercharging the Crucible”, from a wide range of HE providers and industry partners:
| Case Study Title | Other Themes/Keywords | Authors |
|---|---|---|
| Development of an Authentic Writing Activity with Industry | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Authentic Learning | Dr Becky Selwyn, David Pullinger and Dr Irene Renaud-Assemat |
| E21 – ‘Engineering the Future’ at the University of Exeter with a USP of Entrepreneurship and collaboration with Royal Society Entrepreneurs in Residence |
Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Knowledge exchange, Gold Standard Project Based Learning, EntreComp, 21st Century Skills, Entrepreneur in Residence, Collaboration | Dr Corrina Cory, Nick Russill and Prof Steve Senior |
| Development and Implementation of a Collaborative Event to Enhance Graduate Employability | Graduate Outcomes, Employability, Engineering Education | Dr Lisa Simmons, Dr Carl Diver, Dr Gary Dougill, Scott Pepper, Paul Foden and Robin Phillips |
| Participation and Belonging to Engineering – an Intersectionality Lens | Research, Science and Social Capitals, Sense of Belonging, Intersectionality, Student Success | Dr Salma Al Arefi |
| Re-engineering Education: Pushing the boundaries of Academic-Industrial Partnerships | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Partnerships, Academic, Industry | Bob Tricklebank and Sue Parr |
| Emergency Shelter Digital Design Project, A UCL / Multiplex Collaboration | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Civil Engineering Design, Building Information Modelling, BIM, Digital Engineering, Industry, Collaboration | James Ford |
| Notre Dame Cathedral Roof Design Project, A UCL / ARUP Collaboration | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Civil Engineering Design, Timber Design, Industry, Collaboration | James Ford |
| Revising Approaches for a Joined Up Methodology | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Knowledge exchange, Industry, Engineering, Education, Authenticity, Collaboration | Dr Gareth Thomson, Dr Jakub Sacharkzuk and Paul Gretton |
| Newcastle University and brightening the future for the North East | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Knowledge exchange, Research, Electrification, Collaboration Skills, Newcastle | Prof Matt Boyle OBE |
| Sheffield Innovation Programme | Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Research, Knowledge Exchange, Innovation, SMEs | Alex Prince and Prof Wayne Cranton |
| Connected Curriculum: Partnering Academia and Industry | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Knowledge exchange, Research, Digitalisation, Partnership, Collaboration, Network | Steve Jones, Associate Prof David Hughes, Prof Ion Sucala, Dr Aris Alexoulis and Dr Martino Luis |
| Stimulating Growth of an SME to Support Railway Infrastructure | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, Knowledge exchange, Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Design and Innovation, Student Projects, Railway Infrastructure | Prof Simon Barrans, Harvey Kangley, Greg Jones and Mark Newton |
| Scholarship, Synergy & Transformational Change: Using Research to Inform Strategy at a Time of Uncertainty | Collaborating with industry for teaching and learning, Research, Transformational Change, Industry-Education Partnerships, Educational Research, Scholarship | Associate Prof Graeme Knowles, Dr Jane Andrews and Professor Robin Clark |
| Industrial Digitalisation MSc Students Supporting Regional Development | Universities’ and businesses’ shared role in regional development, PrintCity, industrial digitalisation, 3D printing | Peter Gough and Prof Craig Banks |
These case studies are aimed at:
- Academics at all levels – whether early career staff looking for opportunities to establish a network or senior leaders who want to extend the role of industry partnerships in their strategy or who want to improve graduate employment outcomes.
- Managers in industry looking to establish links with academics to boost research, development, innovation and talent pipeline.
- Policy-makers and sector agencies with an interest in industry and academia working more closely for the benefit of the economy, society and regions.
Advisors and contributors
Last year, the EPC called for case study contributions to build this toolkit to help our members forge stronger industry links by sharing experiences and developing resources. We were delighted to receive nearly 50 applications to contribute case studies, exploring one or more of the Crucible Project’s five main themes. These submissions were reviewed in detail by the EPC’s Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Committee (RIKT) and 25 were shortlisted to present at our very successful Crucible Project online launch event on the 16th February 2022. With over 100 attendees joining us throughout the full-day event we saw presentations of a fantastic range of the case studies now available in this toolkit. We would like to extend our greatest thanks to the RIKT committee for all their enthusiasm and hard work on this project, in addition to all those who presented at the event and/or contributed case studies to make this an extensive, and what we hope will be a very useful, resource.
More to come
This is just the beginning of the Crucible Project toolkit – this will be a living and growing resource to provide best practice examples of academic-industry partnerships to help you find research funding, place graduates in employment, create work-based learning and many other collaborations. To ensure the continuous growth of this resource, members will soon be able to contribute their own, or further case studies also.
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