Monash Industry Engagement program wins 2017 AFR Higher Education Award
Working with industry in a way that transcends the standard commercial relationships has landed Monash Industry Team Initiative (MITI) Australia's most prestigious higher education award for Industry Engagement at the Australian Financial Review Higher Education Awards 2017.
Monash University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor Enterprise, Mr Ken Sloan, said: “This is a fantastic example of how, when student talent combines with real world industry, it can make a transformative difference.
“We are grateful to our many industry partners for their ongoing support and for creating life changing opportunities for our students,” Mr Sloan said.
The win recognises the benefits to Monash students and partner organisations gained through participating in the initiative, where high-performing multidisciplinary students achieve commercial solutions to real-world problems.
Under the Monash Industry Team Initiative, up to four students are drawn from faculties across the University, from all levels of study – undergraduate, Masters and PhD – to tackle real-life problems with Australian and international industry partners.
Some of the successful outcomes have ranged from autonomous helicopters for bushfire response to process optimisation in the dairy industry, to 3D printed teeth and reducing the impact of Trachoma in Indigenous children.
In most instances, the students have never worked in project teams outside their own discipline. The MITI experience accelerates their learning curve and sets them up for their future careers and in many cases exposes them to industries they may not have previously considered.
The MITI program involves multi-disciplinary complex problem solving which students do not traditionally experience within their faculty or the university alone.
Over 120 teams have been involved in the MITI program, with participants selected from applicants who are completing a postgraduate qualification or in their penultimate or final year of undergraduate study.
The MITI program runs over 12 weeks from December to February with student teams embedded with industry partners. In many cases, the MITI program enables students to experience industries they may not have considered.
Further information on MITI can be found here.