Driving a Sustainable University-Industry Partnership

There has been a lot of emphasis on the need for academia-industry collaboration. A successful and sustainable academia-industry partnership can result from a university’s efforts in driving values in its collaboration with industry. This chapter describes a model for mainstreaming a sustainable university partnership with industry through the university’s academic curriculum. The University-Industry Innovation eXchange (UNIX) internship program is a project-based industrial training scheme that is integrated with research projects to provide students with an engaging experience of working with industry for up to one year to solve practical industrial problems. Successful implementation of UNIX projects within the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s (UTM) work-based curriculum contributes toward nurturing life-ready and job-ready graduates, development of resilient and sustainable organisation through improved operations, and enhanced university-industry partnership.


University's role in driving sustainable partnership with industry
Among the key roles of a university is to educate and empower people with knowledge and skills so that they will become prosperers of lives. To effectively achieve this mission, universities must formulate a sustainable partnership with industry, government and community, apart from with other universities. In order to foster and drive a sustainable partnership, a university must begin by building a compelling case and unique offerings on how the partnership could benefit collaborators. This chapter presents the strategies and unique offerings of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in creating a sustainable partnership through a workbased curriculum that contributes toward nurturing life-ready and job-ready graduates, development of resilient and sustainable organisation through improved operations, and enhanced partnership with industry.
At UTM, the traditional practice of having a short industrial training or odd career days toward the end of a degree program has undergone sweeping transformation toward a customised and immersive UTM-Industry Innovation Exchange (UNIX) project that includes up to 50% work-based learning elements that is implemented in close collaboration with UTM industry. The partnership combines industrial training, trans-disciplinary action research and design projects that embed contemporary challenged-based topics including elements of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) as part of student learning time (SLT) to enable students to be inclusively involved in real-life problem solving that benefits industry and community.

UTM-industry innovation eXchange (UNIX) program
The School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM-SCEE) founded the "UTM-Industry Innovation Exchange" (UNIX-Internship) project back in 2010 as one of its signature global branding through creativity and innovation (GBCI) project. UNIX is aimed at value-adding, expanding and maximising the benefits of the industrial training program to university, students and the industry.
Since 1983, UTM-SCEE sends an average of 150 undergraduate students to undergo a ten-week Industrial Training (InTra) program. The purpose of InTra is to provide students with industrial exposure and experience before they graduate. This training is also designed to meet the accreditation requirements for the engineering program by the Engineering Accreditation Council of Malaysia (EAC) of Malaysia.
Over the years, UTM-SCEE received numerous feedbacks from stakeholders, especially from the industry and students regarding InTra. Most companies found that they were not able to assign InTra students with reasonably challenging projects because of the short ten weeks duration of the InTra. Most industries typically accept students for InTra just to fulfil their corporate their social responsibility (CSR) goals. Except for providing students with exposure to day-to-day industrial operations, industries generally do not expect any added-value or contributions from universities through the InTra program. As a result, there is no commitment from the industry to provide students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge to solve industrial problems.
In some cases, there are mismatches between internship training provided by the company and the students' industrial training programme requirement. In a paper reported by Ayob et al. [1], some engineering students were given tasks such as the promotion of business product and management of foreign workers, which are not related to their studies. According to the article by Feijoo et al. [2], it is emphasised on the need to introduce a more in-depth study of specific topics that could be included as an additional project scope to improve industrial training.
Many universities generally regard the InTra program as not more than a means to provide short industrial exposure to students. Students generally appreciate their short industrial exposures but found that they were not able to fully benefit from undergoing InTra. The minimum of eight weeks internship period (according to the Engineering Accreditation Council guide [3]) is typically too short for them to be immersed in projects to solve industrial problems and does not allow them to deeply apply the theories and knowledge that they have learnt over the period of their studies. Phang et al. [4] stated that a longer industrial training duration can increase the job-readiness and the future career development of engineering undergraduates. According to the authors, many parties regard the standard 10-12 weeks internship period as being too short and should be reviewed. The need for a longer industrial training duration is also supported by the study of Jamaluddin et al. [5]. In addition, Filho et al. [6] stated that, to enhance sustainability in the curricula, academia needs to develop a more engaging collaborative approaches in working with industries. SCEE fully recognised the limitations of the traditional InTra program and the importance of offering a practical and mutually beneficial cooperation program for the industry. In October of 2010, SCEE established the UNIX-Internship project as one of SCEE's global branding projects through creativity and innovation (Global Branding through Creativity and Innovation -GBCI).
UNIX is an innovative program to foster and facilitate a win-win" collaborative partnership via human capital development, research as well as consultancy services between UTM-SCEE and the industry. UNIX integrates three core courses offered by the UTM-SCEE, namely the (i) Industrial Training (IT) and (ii) Undergraduate Project 1 and II (UGP1 & UGP2). Integration of professional work placement and engineering research project was also introduced by Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland [7]. Their industrial attachment model includes four months of professional work placement, followed by seven months of engineering research project involving the company where the students are placed.
The objectives of the UTM-SCEE UNIX project are to: i. enhance graduate employability via industrial/government, project-oriented internship programs, ii. form a vibrant, symbiotic, and sustainable linkage between UTM and the industry/government/community iii. create a market-driven as well as technology-driven R & D ecosystem.
To ensure the success and effectiveness of the program, a pilot-scale UNIXinternship at SCEE was initiated by selecting 10% of the total students to undergo InTra via the UNIX program. Selected students were placed in industries that have become members of the UNIX consortium and will conduct training/activities related to pre-agreed research projects. During the InTra, students will be cosupervised by the industry as well as by a research project supervisor from SCEE. The UNIX program spans across one academic year involving UGP 1 (Semester 1), ten weeks InTra and UGP 2 (Semester 2).

Stages of UNIX implementation
The SCEE UNIX-Internship program involves three stages of implementation: Stage 1: Project Conception This stage involves a discussion between the UTM team comprising of the UNIX committee and the prospective research leader, and the industry. The UTM team begins by presenting the possible research topics, the offer for collaboration initiatives and UNIX as one of the possible collaborative programs for the company to consider as a starting point. The meeting is aimed to identify possible areas of collaboration and specific projects of interest to companies.

Stage 2: Appointment of Academic and Industrial Supervisors
The second stage of UNIX involves the appointment of the research and industrial supervisors with expertise relevant to the needs and interests of the industry, and in line with the academic requirements. This stage involves more detailed discussions between the supervisor and the company to come up with a project proposal that will address the needs of all parties involved.

Stage 3: Selection of students
In this stage, the UNIX committee identifies students to participate in the UNIX program based on (i) the project topics agreed upon by UTM research supervisors and UNIX consortium companies, and (ii) the performances of students in the academic as well as extra-curricular activities.
Typically, between 10 and 15% of the total students undergoing IT will be selected to undergo the UNIX program. Selected students will be placed in companies that have become members of the SCEE-UNIX consortium to conduct marketdriven as well as industry-driven research projects that typically begins with stateof-the-art literature and technology screening during their Undergraduate Project 1 (from February until May of the academic year). This is followed by the student undergoing industrial internship attachment that involves industrial data collection and analysis by the student from June until early September. The project closes with the compilation and presentation of results and proposed solutions to the company in December. During the one-year course of UNIX, students will be supervised by an academic and an industrial supervisor. Table 1 shows the typical UNIX-Internship timeline.

Benefits of UNIX
From the feedbacks and evaluations conducted on the industry, students, and supervisors, it has been found that the UNIX-Internship program has provided a positive learning experience that has significantly impacted the cognitive and affective domains of learning in students. Students developed problem-solving, time management, communication and team working skills during the 1-year course of continuous communication and engagement with industry. This allows them to function more effectively in learning together and in producing highquality engineering solutions. The feedbacks also show that there is significant inculcation and drive toward sustainable development practices from the aspect of knowledge as well as behaviour. One of the most vital points of UNIX is the effectiveness of collaboration between faculty and industry in successfully solving complex and practical industrial problems. Such collaboration enriched participating students and faculties, and contributed toward sustainable development of organisations. All in all, the program has become an innovation that can sustainably provide a comprehensive and dynamic learning environment that had enhanced deep learning and instill positive behaviours among students and collaborating parties.
Follow are the multiple benefits of the UNIX program:

To industry
The human resource support to perform cutting-edge R & D provided by UNIX has enabled industries to: • Gain competitive technical and commercial advantages and allow industries to achieve sustainable industrial operations. To date, UNIX has led to improved industrial processes, productivities, and profitability as well as enhanced safety and environmental practices for more than 100 local and multinational companies in Malaysia and abroad.
• Gain access to human resources with high-level generic as well as technical skills to solve complex problems encompassing optimal operations, sustainable development, safety-health-environment, economics & project management.
• Gain access to academic resources such as R & D grants, research expertise and facilities toward enhancing a company's competitive edge.

To the academia, and the nation
UNIX enables: • The university and the nation to create an ecosystem of market-driven R & D through synergistic industry-academia-government-community engagement.
• Students and staff to gain extended exposure and experience working and engaging on collaborative projects with industry.
• Students' employability, and faculty members' skills to be enhanced. This will ultimately contribute toward industrial and national productivity. Table 2 shows the list of industry collaboration projects that have been successfully implemented since 2006.

International Paper publication from industrial cooperation
Some samples of collaborative projects related to the sustainable development of organisations published in high impact magazine articles and journals include: • Article in 'Chemical Engineering' magazine published with MIMOS Semiconductor Sdn Bhd [8].
• Article in 'Chemical Engineering Progress' magazine published with MIMOS Semiconductor Sdn Bhd [9].
• An international journal published with MIMOS Semiconductor Sdn Bhd in the Journal of Environmental Management, which currently has an impact factor as high as 5.65 [10].
• An international journal published with the Malaysia Energy Center (MEC) in the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews Journal, which currently has an impact factor as high as 12.1 [11].

Awards & recognitions
UNIX has also led to recognition and awards such as Prince Sultan Abdul Aziz International Prize for Water [12] which is the "spin-off" results of the collaboration with MIMOS Semi-Conductor and Sultan Ismail Mosque in UTM (see Figure 1). Table 3 shows the list of water savings from UNIX projects. In addition, SCEE also won USD 100,000 Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Prize of Excellence in Science and Technology 2017, cited as an Institution having achieved outstanding contribution to a given scientific discipline" (Figure 2).  Table 2.
List of industry on our UNIX-internship program.

Consultancy spin-off as a result of UNIX
UNIX has also spin-off to bigger industrial collaboration after the spin-off either in the form of R&D grants or consultancy projects as listed in Table 4.   Table 3.
List of water savings from UNIX projects.

Companies' responses
Below are some sample feedbacks from the UNIX-Internship Invitations:

Response from Petlin (PETRONAS):
--------------------------------Dear Prof. Zainuddin, Unfortunately, this year (2011), our student quota is pretty occupied. As per email below, we are interested with the sandwich course as below, especially now that we are embarking Energy Loss Management System (ELMS). Good to study back our energy and mass balance throughout the plant (after eight years running). Maybe to study the water balance as well. This also will benefit the student and PM Sdn Bhd very much. An energy audit software that consists of macro (e.g. fuel switching, cogen) and technical level (e.g. motor, fan, chiller, compressor) analysis for current equipment/system benchmarking.

IOI Groups Retrofit for Energy Efficiency Improvement
A detailed study that includes benchmarking, data validation and sampling, hydraulic analysis, heat integration, system troubleshooting. The cooling water pump has successfully been reduced to two from three.

MIMOS Semiconductor
UTM-MIMOS Water Minimisation Project Savings of freshwater and wastewater bills worth RM 50 k per month with two years payback period. This is a reduction of more than 80% of freshwater consumption. retrofit measures. The study has helped the company improved its heat integration network and resulted in a reduction in 1.6 MW of energy, with annual savings of USD4.1Million. The study has also contributed to a more sustainable energy system for the company. The student received the Vice-Chancellor Award during the 55th UTM Convocation Ceremony. In addition, he was also selected as the National Young Scientist Representative during the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting 2015 (see Figure 3). He was also chosen as the top 3 finalists for the European Federation of Chemical Engineer (EFCE) Excellence Award in Recognition of an Outstanding PhD Thesis on Computer-Aided Process Engineering (CAPE).
The work also resulted in software called Optimal Site which won the Jury and Gold Award in the 16th Industrial Art and Technology Exhibition (INATEX), UTM and Silver Medal in the 14th International Conference and Exposition on Inventions by Institutions of Higher Learning (PECIPTA).

MIMOS semiconductor Sdn Bhd
Another PhD student was attached in MIMOS Semiconductor. She performed a feasibility study on water sustainability programs for MIMOS. The study predicted savings of freshwater and wastewater bills of worth Ringgit Malaysia (RM) 50 k per month with two years payback period. The savings represent a reduction of more than 80% of freshwater consumption. The water minimisation strategies holistically included measures for water elimination, reduction, reuse, outsourcing and treatment. The work produced a UTM commercial software, Optimal Water, that won several national and international product innovation awards, and resulted in joint collaborative international publications involving UTM and MIMOS. The work also won prestigious international awards such as the Saudi Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz International Prize for Water 2008 (Water Management Category), the Germany Green Talent Award (see Figure 4) [13] and the Malaysia's Sarawak State 2008 Maal Hijrah Outstanding Achievement Award.

Synthomer
One undergraduate and one postgraduate student were attached in Synthomer Malaysia under the UNIX program. The undergraduate student developed software to monitor the cooling duty and scheduling of reactor for polymerisation reaction (see Figure 5). The software has helped the company to reduce its reactor downtime, minimise cooling requirement and optimise production.
The master student was assigned to develop a sustainable energy management system and performed an energy audit for the company. The feasibility study  conducted by the student managed to identify scope for annual energy savings of up to RM740,000 and recommended a sustainable energy management program for the company. UTM collaboration with Synthomer has also resulted in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) [14] that provided placement for more students to undertake various other UNIX projects.

Conclusion
Over the years, more than 100 public and private institutions had benefited from UNIX collaboration with UTM. Having access to UTM's R&I ecosystem, network, resources, technology, and know-how allow collaborators to add value, improve efficiency, raise competitiveness, and drive innovation that ultimately enhances the image, profitability and sustainability of their businesses. The UTM-Industry Innovation Exchange Internship Program (UNIX-Internship) transformed a routine university's conventional short exposure industrial training programs into a 1-year, value-laden, industry-oriented, project-based internship programs. It has huge potential to be a game-changer to the teaching and learning ecosystem in the following major ways: • Sharpening of student's generic skills, including lifelong learning, problemsolving, communication, teamworking, and leadership skills, while positively impacting the cognitive and affective domains of learning among students.
• Providing students with vital practical industrial experiences of project execution and management and the skill to solve complex problems encompassing sustainable development, safety-health-environment, economic analysis & project management.
• Providing students with better career prospects through prolonged exposure and experience working and engaging with the industry.
• Providing affordable R & D support to companies toward the development of sustainable organisations. To date, UNIX has benefitted more than 100 local and multinational companies.
• Forming a vibrant, synergistic, and sustainable linkage between UTM and stakeholders (SDG17 -Partnerships for the Goals).
• Creating a culture and an ecosystem of market-driven R & D among the young students.
The works particularly provide impactful contributions toward advancing Quality education (SDG Goal #4) and Partnership for the Goals (SDG Goal #17) of the Sustainable Development Goals. The numerous UNIX projects with industries, among others, also address other specific SDG goals related to energy and water sustainability and climate action, industry innovation and sustainable consumption and production.
Apart from successfully benefitting more than 100 organisations, the UNIX project-based industrial internship program has enhanced UTM graduate employability. In addition, UNIX has formed a vibrant, synergistic and sustainable linkage between UTM and stakeholders, and created a culture and an ecosystem of marketdriven R & D for universities.