Forget the theory: students are inspired by problem-solving and turning know-how into entrepreneurship. Even dissent is a focus for innovation, says John Einar Hustad of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Just 18 years since its foundation, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) jumped to international prominence this month with the news that two of its scientists, husband and wife team May-Britt and Edvard Moser, would share the 2014 Nobel Prize in medicine with John O’Keefe of University College London.
A day after the Nobel announcement, the university’s head of innovation John Einar Hustad, was focused on a different prize – creating student success stories through an education built on innovation, entrepreneurship and practical problem-solving.
“If you only work with theory all the time, what are you going to use this for?” says Hustad, the Pro-Rector for Innovation at NTNU. Students are inspired by problem-solving and turning know-how into entrepreneurship, he says. Even failed projects can make stimulating lessons. “Fewer people leave their studies; they keep [going], because they think, ‘This is very interesting’.”
The approach to promoting innovation within the university is paying off for students, Hustad says. NTNU graduates are using know-how to launch technology, medical and computer companies. One of the most notable examples is Aptomar, founded by NTNU students in 2005, and now selling its marine oil spill detection products and services globally.
Ignite the entrepreneurs
NTNU’s bridge between the lecture theatre and the workplace is a product of curriculum changes that followed the merger of the technology and social sciences schools in 1996. Higher-level students work in teams to tackle workplace problems or innovation needs, and are encouraged to be self-starters through seed funding provided by the university.
Building on this, NTNU last year launched the Spark programme, which is designed to “ignite the entrepreneurs” in first year undergraduates by pairing them with older peers and corporate partners.
“These students have fantastic power, they are really interested in things and they talk about what they are doing, and this inspires the people in the [partner] company,” Hustad says. The feedback he gets is that employees partnering with students, “Start to think more innovatively.”
Hustad was among the academics participating in a panel debate on ‘Shifting Higher Education Towards Innovation and Entrepreneurship’, at the Science|Business Innovation Summit, held at the Technical University of Berlin last week. The 2014 winners of the Science|Business Academic Enterprise Awards, which recognises excellent university start-ups were announced at the summit.
Resistance to student entrepreneurship
Another panellist, Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University, Finland, who has promoted interdisciplinary programmes in education and research, said students are a key driver of innovation in society. “A good result is one that [leaves the university and] walks into society on two feet,” he said. “Students have to understand how to use information to distinguish fact from fiction and to resolve practical problems.”
Both Hustad and Teeri acknowledged that their entrepreneurial emphasis is not without controversy. Some professors have resisted giving students greater independence to develop and follow through with projects in collaboration with businesses.
There can also be disquiet about university links with industry. In a later interview, Hustad discussed coming under fire over NTNU’s ties to oil and gas companies operating in Norway. Students have challenged NTNU for carrying out research for Total because of the French company’s operations in disputed Western Sahara. Morocco annexed this region in north west Africa in 1976 and is accused of human rights violations in the area.
Critical articles have appeared in the student newspaper, Universitetsavisa. But dissent does not rattle Hustad. “We welcome this discussion. We like the students to be very active and to challenge us on these types of questions. It is a good discussion because they are young, we are older, they have opinions and they challenge us, and we can say it’s not that easy.”
Business ethics is also part of NTNU’s core curriculum, creating a scholastic outlet for such disagreements.
It’s also the case that knowledge generated in research agreements with oil companies is cross-disciplinary. For example, the experience and know-how Norway has built in exploiting North Sea oil and gas can be applied to the development of offshore renewable energy. “Everything that we have developed concerning construction in the sea of [oil and gas] platforms can be used for floating windmills,” Hustad noted.
“You can see that it’s not that easy just to take oil and gas out [of the curriculum] because the knowledge can be used in different areas,” he said.
A day after the Nobel announcement, the university’s head of innovation John Einar Hustad, was focused on a different prize – creating student success stories through an education built on innovation, entrepreneurship and practical problem-solving.
“If you only work with theory all the time, what are you going to use this for?” says Hustad, the Pro-Rector for Innovation at NTNU. Students are inspired by problem-solving and turning know-how into entrepreneurship, he says. Even failed projects can make stimulating lessons. “Fewer people leave their studies; they keep [going], because they think, ‘This is very interesting’.”
The approach to promoting innovation within the university is paying off for students, Hustad says. NTNU graduates are using know-how to launch technology, medical and computer companies. One of the most notable examples is Aptomar, founded by NTNU students in 2005, and now selling its marine oil spill detection products and services globally.
Ignite the entrepreneurs
NTNU’s bridge between the lecture theatre and the workplace is a product of curriculum changes that followed the merger of the technology and social sciences schools in 1996. Higher-level students work in teams to tackle workplace problems or innovation needs, and are encouraged to be self-starters through seed funding provided by the university.
Building on this, NTNU last year launched the Spark programme, which is designed to “ignite the entrepreneurs” in first year undergraduates by pairing them with older peers and corporate partners.
“These students have fantastic power, they are really interested in things and they talk about what they are doing, and this inspires the people in the [partner] company,” Hustad says. The feedback he gets is that employees partnering with students, “Start to think more innovatively.”
Hustad was among the academics participating in a panel debate on ‘Shifting Higher Education Towards Innovation and Entrepreneurship’, at the Science|Business Innovation Summit, held at the Technical University of Berlin last week. The 2014 winners of the Science|Business Academic Enterprise Awards, which recognises excellent university start-ups were announced at the summit.
Resistance to student entrepreneurship
Another panellist, Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University, Finland, who has promoted interdisciplinary programmes in education and research, said students are a key driver of innovation in society. “A good result is one that [leaves the university and] walks into society on two feet,” he said. “Students have to understand how to use information to distinguish fact from fiction and to resolve practical problems.”
Both Hustad and Teeri acknowledged that their entrepreneurial emphasis is not without controversy. Some professors have resisted giving students greater independence to develop and follow through with projects in collaboration with businesses.
There can also be disquiet about university links with industry. In a later interview, Hustad discussed coming under fire over NTNU’s ties to oil and gas companies operating in Norway. Students have challenged NTNU for carrying out research for Total because of the French company’s operations in disputed Western Sahara. Morocco annexed this region in north west Africa in 1976 and is accused of human rights violations in the area.
Critical articles have appeared in the student newspaper, Universitetsavisa. But dissent does not rattle Hustad. “We welcome this discussion. We like the students to be very active and to challenge us on these types of questions. It is a good discussion because they are young, we are older, they have opinions and they challenge us, and we can say it’s not that easy.”
Business ethics is also part of NTNU’s core curriculum, creating a scholastic outlet for such disagreements.
It’s also the case that knowledge generated in research agreements with oil companies is cross-disciplinary. For example, the experience and know-how Norway has built in exploiting North Sea oil and gas can be applied to the development of offshore renewable energy. “Everything that we have developed concerning construction in the sea of [oil and gas] platforms can be used for floating windmills,” Hustad noted.
“You can see that it’s not that easy just to take oil and gas out [of the curriculum] because the knowledge can be used in different areas,” he said.
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