Industry/university collaboration in mechatronics: the Dundee experience

This paper describes an innovative experiment in collaboration being conducted by the University of Dundee and NCR (Manufacturing) Ltd. in the multidisciplinary field of mechatronics. Early in 1989, the company agreed to fund the NCR Industrial Chair in Mechatronics at the University of Dundee. NCR develops, manufactures and markets business information processing systems, being currently the world´s leading manufacturer of Automated Teller Machines (ATM). Where this endowment differs from most, if not all, other industrially-funded chairs, is that the professor´s contract of employment requires him to spend 50% of his time working for the company, on company research and associated activities. The intention of this arrangement was to ensure that NCR would benefit as much as possible from its investment, while leaving the professor reasonably free to pursue his academic career and also to conduct projects for other companies within a minimum of reasonable restrictions