Design Day Challenges: Encouraging Student Innovation to Solve Local Industry Problems

• In Event: Education and industry linkages and partnerships for youth success

Proposal

According to a 2016 Labor Market Survey of over 400 companies in Iraq, 27% respondents indicated that university graduates were very unprepared/ unprepared in regards to critical thinking, 25% in problem-solving, and 17% in adaptability/flexibility upon entry to the workforce (Guedenet, Grajek and Mason, 2017). This presentation highlights the IREX-supported Design Day Challenge in Iraq, a model that universities use to improve these critical skills required for workforce success across different sectors and positions. The paper draws on data from the first Design Day Challenge in Iraq in 2016 involving 3 public universities and the recent fall 2018 Design Day Challenge run through Career Development Centers in over 10 universities around the country.

The presentation begins with a brief explanation of the model. During the Design Day challenge, students in Iraq work together in small teams to solve industry-provided problems in areas as diverse as water, medicine, engineering and construction. Student teams work through the university career development center with faculty supervisors who provide coaching throughout the development of their projects over the course of a semester. Once the teams have designed a poster or prototype of the proposed solution, students present their designs and are judged by local industry.

Design Days are rooted in problem-based learning, which helps students to develop critical skills for employability. IREX has found that students, in working side by side for several months to apply classroom theory into practice, develop their critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork skills while also honing technical expertise. In addition, when presenting to industry, students augment their communication and presentation skills. The centers are directly linked to universities and the vocational training facilities, and they incorporate work readiness training into the tertiary education system, vocational training system, and workplaces where these skills contribute to the employability and performance of youth in the workplace.

IREX’s Design Day Model in Iraq is adapted from engineering capstone projects used in U.S. universities and aligned with ABET accreditation requirements. As this paper argues, the model can be employed in different areas of the world where educational institutions seek to develop closer ties to industry. Students gain experience solving real-world industry related problems, develop skills needed for employment, and have the opportunity to interact closer with the private sector. Companies gain student-developed innovative solutions to their problems, are afforded exposure to the student talent pipeline for future internship and job opportunities, and are able to provide feedback to universities on course curriculum and student level of performance. Educational institutions benefit by building fruitful partnerships with industry that career center staff can then develop further; they also support student workforce readiness through hands-on learning (Mason, 2017).

The author will provide lessons learned and insight gained particularly from the 2018 Challenge, taking into account feedback from industry, career centers, and students surveyed. The author will provide strategies to mitigate difficulties in implementation, ranging from budgetary constraints to timelines to industry engagement and approach.

Author

• Stanley Currier, IREX