2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Background: Over recent decades, significant resources and attention have been invested in promoting University-Industry Collaboration (UIC), with the successful implementation of such partnerships remaining a persistent concern. In particular, the long-term nature of students training presents a unique challenge for teaching-focused UIC, where ensuring the sustainability of collaborations beyond their initial success remains a complex issue.

Purpose: Confronted with the insufficient motivation of industries to sustain their involvement in teaching-focused UIC and the relatively vulnerable position of universities in these partnerships, this study aims to explore how to effectively enhance the sustainability of teaching-focused UIC.

Method: This study adopts a case study approach centered on the Integrated Circuit field, examining an engineering doctoral program at a leading university in China. Using an integrative implementation framework for UIC, we explore effective strategies employed in this case to enhance the sustainability of UIC across four dimensions: institutional, relationship, output, and framework.

Results: Government support acts as a key driver in establishing UIC, while training outcomes are essential for sustaining these collaborations. Universities can enhance industry motivation and foster long-term partnerships by adopting strategies such as bridging boundary organizations, corporatizing large-scale infrastructure, and developing student evaluation criteria that align with enterprise needs.

Conclusion: The findings address the limited attention given to teaching-focused UIC in existing studies and shift the research focus from successful implementation to the sustainability of such collaborations, offering both theoretical and practical insights into UIC research and contributing to the enhancement of engineering students' practical skills.