Textile production

4.4.1. A model of innovation for academic research institutions
In the model for an innovation-driven university/institute shown in Fig. 4.1, the need for research and development is a key element representing the market pull coming from industry and society. The science and technology push is provided by the knowledge and expertise created at the research centre. There should be a strong interaction between the activities of research institutes, university institutions and industry/society. One determining factor for success for such a model is good mobility of personnel in the innovation system, presented in Fig. 4.2. In this system, specialists systematically move between the research institute and industry/society. When properly managed, one would expect a sustainable flow of patents and innovations originating in the research institutes which would then result in new thinking, innovations and growth in industry and society.

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4.1. Model for a market-driven research center.

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4.2. Model of academic institutions from the innovation perspective.
There are many ways in which universities and research institutes involved in textiles can link with industry. As an example, they can either become members of an existing science park in the regions where they are established, or get themselves engaged in the building of new technology parks and incubators in the field of textiles. A science park is a well-defined working environment for starting interaction between knowledge-creating scientists and potential industrial users in the process of technology transfer. A science park is essentially a cluster of knowledge-based businesses where support and advice are supplied to assist in the growth of the companies. In most instances, science parks are associated with a centre of technology, such as a university or research institute. In addition to providing day-to-day business services, such as temporary office facilities, more advanced services can include those that cover company development, such as technology transfer, advice on intellectual property rights, access to loan and venture capital, student placement, marketing advice, etc. Business incubators, on the other hand, provide intensive, hands-on support and services to assist specifically in the creation and early-stage growth of businesses. The services include help with business planning, raising finance, marketing support and mentoring. A business incubator offers this type of support together with small units on flexible terms, and enterprises selected are those able to best benefit from support.
The MIT model in the USA
There are some university institutes – for example, MIT, Stanford University and Georgia Tech in the USA, and Cambridge University in the UK – which have ongoing educational and research programmes that are well designed for innovation and growth. MIT’s sought-after ideal, namely to create the external practical use of the research results, has successively made MIT a very attractive partner in many companies’ product development work. A university like MIT, where external use of the research results is created without lowering high scientific ambitions and integrity, is often called an entrepreneurial university.
The innovations made at MIT in Boston have had, and are having, a very significant effect on the growth of both industry and society in the USA. This is shown by the very large number of patents granted to researchers at MIT, and by thousands of companies which have been established as the result of MIT’s activity. In 1997, these companies employed more than 1.1 million people, with a total annual turnover of US$232 billion. Every year different companies sponsor research work at MIT worth more than US$700 million. It has been estimated that innovations from universities/ colleges in the USA create added value to the US economy amounting to US$20 billion and create 150 000 new jobs each year.
At MIT, the Deshpande Center strives to make great ideas at MIT a reality. The Deshpande Center was established at the MIT School of Engineering in 2002 to increase the impact of MIT technologies in the marketplace.¹³ Founded with an initial donation by Jaishree and Desh Deshpande, the Center depends on the financial and professional support of successful alumni, entrepreneurs and investors to provide a sustainable source of funding for innovative research and guidance to help it reach the marketplace. The Deshpande Center awards grants that fund proof- of-concept explorations and validation for emerging technologies. ‘Our grantees are developing exciting and innovative technologies’, said Leon Sandler, the Center’s executive director. ‘We look forward to these technologies solving important problems and creating an impact’. By funding novel early-stage research and connecting MIT’s innovators to the business community, the Center helps emerging technologies to break into the commercial sphere.
Mirroring MIT’s motto of ‘mens et manus: (mind and hand), the MIT Innovation Club seeks to understand innovation as both a science and the practice of generating and implementing new ideas. The Innovation Club was founded in 2003 to celebrate over 130 years of MIT innovation and to challenge the students of today to keep inventing the future. In this pursuit, the Club engages students, faculties and the business community through interactive programmes such as Tech Test beds, Idea Exchange brainstorms, Innovation labs and more. In this way, the Club helps its 250 + members generate innovative ideas, identify target applications for new technologies and develop the skills that can make a difference between success and failure in a start-up or established company. The balance of its intellectual and practical endeavours makes the Club very much about ‘where ideas create value’.
Research findings have pointed out that 50–90% of innovation projects fail to make the transition to commercially successful innovations. One survey done at MIT regarding product innovation quotes that out of 3000 ideas for new products, only one becomes a success in the marketplace. Failure is an inevitable part of the innovation process, and most successful companies are used to taking an appropriate level of risk.
The Fraunhofer Institute model in Europe
A well-known model for an applied research institute in Europe is the central organization Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany, with its head offices in Munich.¹⁴ The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft undertakes applied research of direct utility to private and public enterprise and of wide benefit to society. This is the largest non-profit organization for applied research in Europe, comprising 80 research departments, including 60 institutes in 40 different locations spread all over Germany. The majority of the staff of over 18 000 are qualified scientists and engineers. The annual research budget totals €1.65 billion. Of this sum, €1.40 billion is generated through contract research. Two-thirds of the research revenue is derived from contracts with industry and from publicly financed research projects. Only one third is contributed by the German federal and Lander governments in the form of institutional funding. Research centres and representative offices are also situated in Europe, the USA and Asia. The research work is focused on the following specific areas:
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Material technology, component behaviour.
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Production technology, manufacturing technology.
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Information and communication technology.
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Microelectronics, microsystem technology.
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Test engineering.
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Process engineering.
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Energy technology and construction engineering, environmental and health research.
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Technical-economic studies, information transfer.
A typical Fraunhofer Institute carries out basic research within one of these fields with the clear objective of innovation for industrial application.