Academia – Industry Networking Events

First Networking Event

InfoPro in collaboration with The American University of Beirut held the first Networking Event entitled: “Networking for Industry and Academia” on February 20, at the Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel in Beirut. In her welcome speech Dr. Fadia Homeidan, Director of IDEAL introduced the IDEAL project and stated that the project is a response to the EU Tempus priority for Lebanon which is “to develop enterprise partnerships within governance systems of institutions of higher education to benefit society” The networking event brought together industry professionals with researchers and academics who met in an informal setting and exchanged ideas and contacts. The event was the first of a series of three planned aims to develop systems capable of supporting and promoting relevant research at Lebanese universities and create networks to transfer innovation from academia to industry in Lebanon.

Second Networking Event

The LIRA Program in coordination with The American University of Beirut hosted IDEAL’s second Networking Event entitled: “Networking for Industry and Academia” which was held within LIRA’s three day conference on December 18, 2014 at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut. The networking event brought together industry representative and academia who gave presentations, in addition researchers and students from various Lebanese universities showcased their innovative projects/prototypes.

Third Networking Event

INFOPRO and the American University of Beirut hosted the third Networking Event entitled: “Networking between the Agro-Alimentary Sector and Academia” on November 2, 2015 at Phoenicia Hotel. The event targeted the representatives of the agro-alimentary sector who had shared common concerns and needs of the sector which included: packaging materials and labeling, food safety management system, quality management system, product processing methods and technologies. Researchers from Partner Universities were invited to share their knowledge and explore ways in which to build future cooperation and partnerships. In her opening remarks, Ms. Rosie Nasser, Co-Director of IDEAL project stated: “We believe that when industry and academics work together it’s a win-win situation for both, while the companies offer business insights, the researchers contribute proven methodology and expertise. Working with industry will provide researchers with the opportunity to transfer theoretical ideas into real practical projects and implement research in the real world from which companies can benefit from.” Mrs. Simone Matar from INFOPRO added that the number of research partnerships between companies and universities has increased dramatically over the past 20 years as industries have found that they need to remain competitive in the economy and need to accelerate their innovation process. She said: “It is really a win-win situation as industry can benefit from research output and expertise of researchers whether it is improve the image of their products, or to develop new products, or to solve a specific obstacle, and Universities get needed funding and financial benefits and in turn society gets new products and technologies.”
The event gathered 40-50 researchers from Partner Universities with 18 representatives of the agro-alimentary sector who had the opportunity to meet on one on one basis and provided them with the opportunity to share expertise and exchange business cards.