CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT SPIN-OFF COMPANIES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION: EXPERIENCES IN SOUTHERN SONORA, MEXICO

Abstract

Engineering Education requires the design of strategies to take advantage of industry-university relations to enhance teaching and student learning, and development of innovation projects. The technology-based companies or so called SPIN-OFF, which are incubated at a university and have academic partners, represent a great opportunity to promote educational- business projects that involving training for teachers and students, and improve mechanisms for the transfer technology. This article shows experiences about the relations between a SPIN-OFF company and the Universidad Tecnológica del Sur de Sonora in Mexico which formed inter-institutional collaboration networks. Some industrial projects and investigations conducted by engineering students will be described here along with the benefits obtained. Likewise, the importance of the formation of inter-institutional networks is discussed; mainly result of the NETWORK ALPHA, the participation of SPIN-OFF companies in the processes of the technological transference, and in the molding of students and graduated Engineers.

Index Terms - Company-University relations, Spin-off companies, engineering education relations