Business oriented educational experiments enhance active learning by engineering students

It is generally agreed that one of the keys to recreating industrial growth after the financial crisis is to mobilize universities and engineering schools to be more actively involved in innovation and entrepreneurship activities in cooperation with industrial companies. This active learning exploration symposium on bridging the gap between engineering education and business is proposed on the basis of the Copenhagen University College of Engineering (IHK) being involved in a DKK 50m ongoing project “Business Oriented Educational Experiments” financed by the Capital Region of Denmark and the European Social Fund.

The project is carried out with other major educational institutions in the Copenhagen area and organized in five themes: 1) world class competences, 2) new interactions between education and business, 3) the experimenting organization, 4) education on demand, and 5) new career paths. IHK is using this opportunity to developing the concept of a Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) building on a long tradition of close cooperation between industry and engineering students concerning internships, semester projects and bachelor projects.

By further developing this tradition the CIE concept is put into shape as an innovation and information hub for SMEs and start-ups where students, professors and companies can meet, share information, and embark on innovative projects creating practical solutions that are immediately applied in business.

Obviously, all parties should harvest benefits from the CIE activities: Businesses execute innovative solutions, students practice active learning and build a platform for their future professional career, and professors leave the classrooms and get an opportunity to reality check their theories. CIE is operating on a network platform made up of major regional players in the innovation and entrepreneurship value chain including close cooperation with major players in the area of technological research, development, and service.

Thus, the scale, scope, and quality of the IHK study programs as well as the active learning part is significantly enhanced.