For enterprises
To establish a practical new mechanism connecting the industry and the academia, Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI) launched the first YODEX Industry-Academia Cooperation event in 2014, for which distinguished enterprises from various sectors were invited to set design challenges for students in design-related university departments. The collaboration provides design talents with industry know-how prior to entering the workforce; allows the academia to understand practical needs of the industry to bridge the training-application gap; and strengthens the industry-academia communication. The goals are to encourage enterprises to bring creativity into their practice through the interaction and collaboration with students; to discover and recruit outstanding design talents; to develop industry innovation through cross-sector design; co-create future business opportunities through industry-academia collaboration. The YODEX exhibition as a platform will continue to execute co-creation projects through industry-academia design collaboration, and facilitate new values and new commercial models by promoting industry-academia cooperation.
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Q&A
A TDRI serves as the organizer and project management platform, assisting businesses in facilitating communication and coordination between cross-industry teams and student groups. TDRI is also responsible for curating the exhibition, planning the exhibition space, and handling related construction operations.
A Collaboration with advisory teams is required for the subtopic of joint ventures. They participate in initial reviews, mid-term evaluations, and final assessments, and act as industry mentors for the shortlisted teams. They provide industry knowledge, technical guidance, consultation, and courses during the execution of the graduation projects, assisting the shortlisted teams in producing their works.
A TDRI will invite experts in relevant fields to form a professional advisory team that will guide the shortlisted teams in collaboration with the companies involved in each subtopic. The advisory team will conduct evaluations of the shortlisted projects in collaboration with the companies at the beginning, middle, and end stages.
A The execution of each phase of this project (initial review, final assessment, consultation, courses, etc.) is generally conducted separately, with the three companies involved in each subtopic as a unit. If external consultants are involved, a confidentiality agreement will be signed to ensure that no confidential information of the companies is disclosed. The shortlisted teams will also sign a separate collaboration agreement to safeguard the confidentiality of each company's processes and related information.
A The execution begins with the challenge-proposing enterprises confirming their participation status and goes on until the YODEX exhibition showcasing the industry-academia cooperation outcomes next year (approximately every May to end of May the following year).
A This project will introduce a new execution model for the first time. TDRI will annually announce the "Annual Industry-Academia Collaboration Theme" based on international trends. Companies will be invited to select subtopics of interest based on the theme for the year, which will serve as a reference for company matching and joint question formulation. This approach aims to promote interdisciplinary innovation in industries.