Industry/academic collaboration challenges and rewards

摘要

The mining and metallurgical industry has long lived symbiotically with the academic world. In Inco's case, such luminaries as Robert M. Stanley, Ambrose Monell, John Thompson, and Paul E. Queneau were recruited from the students and faculty of Columbia University. In Canada, Lloyd Pidgeon, of the University of Toronto, and Frank Forward, of University of British Columbia, respectively invented pioneering metal extraction processes for winning magnesium and nickel that were scaled up and commercialized. Today, industry/academic collaborations (IACs) have a new importance, with the phasing down of traditional corporate research laboratories and with political pressure on universities to be more "relevant" to society and industry. The clear expectation from IAC is an improvement to the bottom line of the industrial partner with benefits accruing to the universities as well.