Professionalising the use of the student resource for innovation: Reframing collaborations with industry - exemplified by Solution Hub and U-CrAc

University College Northern Denmark and Aalborg University are the only higher education institutions located in the North Denmark region and both are playing a major role in regional development. A major reason is the particular learning models applied by both institutions, where strong emphasis is placed on both project based learning and problem based learning, involving industry, commercial partners, NGOs and public organisations.
Working with such partners is an integrated part of both organizations DNA, to the great satisfaction of both academia and industry. But also with knowledge of the fact that the full potential of student driven innovation has not yet been realized. Therefore two different approaches to collaboration between HEI’s and industry have been developed; Solution Hub and U-CrAc. For both approaches it has been essential to provide a framework that will help solve “wicked problems” for industry. Solution Hub does this by facilitating interdisciplinary work between student groups with very different skill sets, but working with the same industrial collaborator, and U-CrAc does this by creating true interdisciplinary groups, who each has their own industrial collaborator.