Higher education and industry are both under pressure. As institutions confront rising skepticism, demographic shifts, and mounting financial constraints, manufacturers must reckon with complex supply chain issues, economic shifts, workforce/skills gaps, and a push toward new technologies, such as AI. Everyone is hungry for effective innovations.
The solution could lie in reimagining the research enterprise to prioritize applied research. For too long, the prevailing model of academic research has been focused on basic research that may only indirectly address immediate challenges. But what if we flipped the script?
Wichita State University has embarked on a different approach, one that aligns academic inquiry directly with real-world needs, as well as helping develop the future talent that will lead the manufacturing sector. Rather than asking industry and government agencies to fund ideas, Wichita State listens and asks industry leaders what problems need to be solved.
This may seem like a small thing, but in doing so, our university can bring the full power of our faculty, students, and research infrastructure to bear to create effective solutions at the speed and scale of industry.
Research partnerships open pathways
Wichita State’s Innovation Campus works with more than 50 private-sector, government, and academic partners, many of which maintain an on-site presence, including The Smart Factory by Deloitte @ Wichita. These collaborations don’t just live in labs.
According to the university’s data, last year alone students worked in more than 12,300 roles, earning collectively more than $39 million through paid, résumé-building work with area businesses, organizations, on-campus positions and Innovation Campus companies while they were still pursuing their degree. This applied learning isn’t an add-on; it’s embedded into every degree program.
For instance, within the Smart Factory, students are learning how to use technology, engineering, and other skills to pursue careers in manufacturing. Not only does this open new pathways to our students, it also helps solve for enormous talent shortage in the manufacturing sector.
According to a Deloitte and Manufacturing Institute study, as many as 1.9 million jobs may remain unfilled through 2033 if applicant and skills gaps are not addressed. Further, students at The Smart Factory engage with the Believers program by helping manufacture and ship robotic STEM toys—Smart Rovers —to schools throughout the U.S., all with the goal of developing the next generation of STEM talent.
This also extends into the community, with teacher training on the program, technology, and curriculum, and deployment of Believers in local Wichita schools.
Real problems in real time
By responding to industry needs and aligning academic programs with workforce gaps, universities can enhance their impact on economic development engines. In Wichita State’s case, this approach has tripled R&D expenditures over the last six years and broke enrollment records at a time when many peer institutions are struggling to grow.
This shift has profound implications for the role of higher education in society. Amid the national conversation about the cost and relevance of college, there’s an opportunity. It starts with asking better questions and listening closely to the answers from our partners outside the academy.
When universities collaborate more effectively with industry sponsors to meet contemporary challenges—from supply chain resiliency to advanced manufacturing and digital transformation—they can enhance their value, broaden their impact and create opportunities for the communities and students they serve.
The potential result is a thriving innovation ecosystem: students engage in applied research, faculty collaborate with industry engineers and entrepreneurs, and companies can benefit from access to an impressive pool of talent and expertise.
Of course, the value of higher education isn’t purely about economic impact. Universities must remain places of curiosity, creativity and critical thought.
But those values are not mutually exclusive. When higher education takes on real problems in real time, in addition to fundamental basic research, it can serve students, families and society in novel ways.
