Educational opportunities based on the university-industry synergies in an open innovation framework

Collaboration between Industry and University is becoming more important in order to improve the competitiveness of the research and development activities. Moreover, establishing synergies to bridge the gap between the academic and industrial spheres has demonstrated to be advantageous for both of them. Nowadays, Industry is moving towards an open innovation structure, in which external agents as universities play a key role. Besides, University is also seeking a more active learning methodology to improve the education of students for the real world. Considering this framework, a special effort should be done to take advantage of the collaborative work between Industry and University. The aim of this paper is to present the collaborative framework and the benefits obtained of the educational activities as a consequence of the long-term collaboration established between the University of Zaragoza and the Bosh and Siemens Home Appliances Group. The key stones of the collaboration are presented, and the positive outcomes for the students are highlighted. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the proposed program are also discussed.