Industry Innovation Project

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• Pre-subject

  What is the process to become an IIP partner?

  Industry partners are asked to submit an Expression of Interest before the deadline with contact information, the challenge statement and IP arrangement. This brief is assessed against TD School criteria and then shared (minus contact details) with BCII students for voting.

  How does the voting and student allocation work?

  Before the subject begins, the Expressions of Interest forms (minus contact details) are shared with the students, who select 10 preferences for projects to work on. The Subject Coordinator then allocates students into multidisciplinary teams of 5-7 students based on their core degree and voting preferences. The Industry Innovation Project is a competitive process for partners and unfortunately, not all projects submitted proceed, with the voting process deciding which projects go forward.

  If your project is allocated to a team any IP/NDA agreements for the students, must be available to be shared with the students prior to the official partner welcome event.

  Is my organisation eligible to participate if we aren’t based in Sydney?

  Yes, we have organisations that participate from a range of locations across Australia. As an industry partner, you are required to attend key online sessions and have regular check-ins with your student team which can be online.

  How do I submit a competitive Expression of Interest?

  Each year the students pick which projects go forward, selecting the challenges that they are most eager to work on. With this in mind, it is important to submit your Expression of Interest with the students in mind as your audience; you will need to outline your proposed challenge statement for students from a mix of core disciplines. BCII students are interested in challenges with purpose and possibility, and will be keen to know why the challenge is important to your organisation. 

  The best challenges are ones that have a defined problem space and an open solution space. When the challenge a partner is facing is clearly articulated, yet potential solutions are left open, a sweet spot occurs that allows students to release their creativity and innovation. 

  If the IIP team believes that more context or clarification is needed in your Expression of Interest before it is shared with the students for voting, we will come back to you with suggestions or additional questions.

• During the subject

  How much time do I need to commit as an IIP Partner?

  Industry Innovation Projects require a nominated mentor/main point of contact from each partner organisation. This mentor will need to attend weekly check-ins with their student team, a midpoint check-in and the final presentation; they are also invited to participate in optional panel events during the subject. We estimate the minimum time commitment to be between 25 to 30 hours in total across the semester.

  Are the students interns?

  Industry Innovation Project is not an internship, it transcends both a typical client-consultant or expert-novice relationship. The subject offers industry partners the opportunity to gain insights from a student team outside of their organisation, whilst allowing students to deep-dive into a problem space with the guidance and context from a lead mentor. In comparison, internships are a more structured engagement whereby the student undergoes formal onboarding, and a dedicated supervisor provides them with a series of tasks.

  Who from my organisation should meet with our student team and how often?

  Industry Innovation Project requires a lead mentor and an executive sponsor for each project. However, where feasible, we encourage multiple staff members with differing levels of seniority to engage with students during the project. These interactions allow students to better understand the culture of your organisation and the context of the challenge. In turn, this also exposes more people within your organisation to the transdisciplinary methodologies and creative practices the students are applying to your challenge, fostering improved mutual learning.

  How do we engage with our student team? Do they come to our offices?

  TD School encourages face-to-face engagement between industry partners and students where possible. While some larger sessions will be run online, smaller meetings between partners and teams (weekly meetings, Reframe check-in ) can either be in-person or online, depending on the industry partner’s preference and ability to engage.

  How do we engage with our student team if we aren’t based in Sydney or operate remotely?

  We understand hosting students at your workplace once a week may not be possible for all organisations, such as those based outside of Sydney, those with visitation restrictions and where staff are working remotely. If this is the case, engagement can remain almost 100% virtual throughout the subject, with the exception of the Welcome Event, at the start of the engagement, which is in-person only.

  What kind of activities will students undertake while working on their IIP project?

  Students undergo a process of ideation, reframing and refinement to present initiatives, insights and prototypes in response in a final presentation with a report.

  1. Exploration and generation - Understanding the challenge by taking a deep dive into the problem space. During this phase, teams will apply methods from across their BCII degree to generate potential responses to the challenge.
  2. Reframing and adaption - Checking in with Industry Partner and teaching staff. Students present a reframed brief to the partner for feedback and together they agree on a plan for the realisation of the project.
  3. Realisation and refinement - Experimenting, adapting and analysing through iterative cycles. This final phase sees students work toward proof of concept and present their solution to their Industry Partner, peers and UTS in a final presentation session.

  Whilst there is dedicated time for project work, students will also have formal classes during the subject. These sessions will take place in a large collaborative studio space where each student team will have its own dedicated groupwork zone. They involve the students meeting with their tutor and other teams, working together on their projects and participating in structured workshop activities.

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• Aurecon

  "It’s rare for a solution to address all symptoms of a problem – and that was one of the skills this group brought to the table. They had the ability to dig into root causes and explore the challenge in a broader sense."

  – Daniel San Martin, Innovation Partner at Aurecon

  Aurecon knows that transdisciplinary approaches are needed to tackle complex challenges like sustainability, so they partnered with BCII students to really dive into the problem space. 

  Read the Aurecon case study
  

• batyr

  "In collaboration with batyr, we had the opportunity to bring our campaign to life, which acknowledges the awkwardness and truly recognises the elephant in the room."

  In collaboration with batyr, BCII students smashed the stigma around mental health resulting in their project being launched to the public for batyr’s 2019 Mental Health Month campaign.

  Read the batyr case study

• Centre for Work Health and Safety

  "Industry Innovation Project provides a symbiotic relationship, where we both had a lot to gain. The students gain experience, and we get the fresh ideas – it's like a breath of fresh air."

  – Dr Bill Neto, manager of academic studies at the Centre for WHS

  NSW Centre for Work Health and Safety discovered the positive impacts that the Industry Innovation Project can have on an organisation, opening up new thinking on a complex sector challenge.

  Read the NSW Centre for Work Health and Safety case study

• Cricket NSW

  Find out how a team of BCII students worked with Cricket NSW to increase volunteer engagement in South Asian communities.

  "We were able to shift the way we operated, which enabled them to take a different lens, and give a different perspective to how we would normally approach a project like this. The way they collaborated to do so was a real highlight."

  – Daniel Solway, area manager at Cricket NSW

  Read the Cricket NSW case study

• Future Friendly

  "The BCII students bring an infectious energy to our team with their desire and comfortability to take on big complex challenges."

  Design agency, Future Friendly, challenged creative intelligence students to design a measurement tool to define human value. Generating great outcomes for both the industry partner and students, this model of collaboration highlights the learning exchange between industry partners and students.

  Read the Future Friendly case study

• Guzman y Gomez

  "The program has given our organisation access to a highly motivated group of students who are eager to seek solutions to challenges we are looking to address."

  For Guzman y Gomez, engaging with a transdisciplinary team of UTS students is helping the national restaurant chain make meaningful steps in embedding environmentally sustainable practices across their organisation.

  Read the Guzman y Gomez case study

• Mission Australia

  "Through our engagement with the students, we were able to evaluate and adjust the intervention model to be more universal by reducing barriers and risk; and Mission Australia launched it."

  For many community organisations, staying connected with vulnerable communities has been more important than ever during COVID-19. UTS students helped Mission Australia fast-track innovative approaches to reaching out to people in need of urgent support during the pandemic.

  Read the Mission Australia case study

• UNICEF

  "The concept was so strong, it was obvious that the team had struck gold and I knew they had an idea we could use."

  – Oliver White, Head of Government Relations, UNICEF Australia

  For UNICEF Australia, partnering with a team of transdisciplinary students has led to discovering new ways to connect with young Australians to gather opinions and data for their advocacy work.

  Read the UNICEF case study