Josephine Rodriguez
Western New England University, MA·Engineering
Smaller private universities often sit near strong industries. Yet companies usually choose large research universities as their partners, so the expertise at smaller schools goes underused.
- Fields
Engineering
Computer Science
Education Research
- Topics
academia-industry partnerships
industry collaboration
technology transfer
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Aug 2027
What they work on
- Share best practices and lessons learned across the five EXPAND universities to improve institutional policies and processes for partnerships with industry and community organizations.
- Build faculty and staff expertise in strategic industry collaboration through professional development and support, focusing on engineering and computer science in emerging technologies.
- Develop new industry and community partners and raise the consortium institutions' profiles through targeted activities and events, supporting use-inspired research, technology transfer and student experiential learning.
More about the research
This project tackles that gap. Five four-year private universities across the industrial north of the United States, from Minnesota to Massachusetts, have formed the EXPAND consortium. They are Andrews University, Milwaukee School of Engineering, University of Detroit Mercy, University of St. Thomas, and Western New England University.
Why it matters
Stronger links between smaller universities and nearby companies could help regional industries innovate faster and stay competitive. Students may gain hands-on learning with industry partners, and regions may benefit from workforce development. The model of small schools pooling expertise and resources could guide other institutions that want to support local innovation and commercialize their research.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Matthew Enjalran
Southern Connecticut State University, CT·Education Research
Build a community of practice among three primarily undergraduate institutions to develop and strengthen research partnerships with small and medium-sized businesses in emerging technologies.
Katie Jolicoeur
Minnesota State University-Mankato, MN·Education Research
Establish institutional policies and structures that let primarily undergraduate and emerging research universities form external technology partnerships efficiently and professionally.
Samantha Roth
Guilford College, NC·Education Research
Identify and repair gaps in institutional policies and processes, including intellectual property rights policies and partnership agreements, that currently limit research and community partnerships at a primarily undergraduate institution.
The school
Western New England University: 2 labs on PI Pages.
Reach out
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