Boosting innovation through SME-university collaborations
Small firms with big ideas are a critical component in driving the nation towards a knowledge economy – but SMEs are often left out of the innovation system. Dr Nicky Athanassopoulou discusses key enablers and barriers to improving interfaces between universities and SMEs that boost innovation in the latest edition of The Manufacturer.
Read the full article online.
This article first appeared in the June issue of The Manufacturer magazine.
IfM ECS: working with SMEs
IfM Education and Consultancy Services (IfM ECS) is the knowledge transfer arm of the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing. It provides a number of consultancy services designed specifically for SMEs, often delivered through funded support programmes such as Sharing in Growth in the aeronautical and civil nuclear sectors.
It also runs a membership scheme to give SMEs access to the IfM’s strategic, technical and innovation expertise in order to build their capabilities.
Find out more about how SMEs can work with IfM ECS here
Dr Nicky Athanassopoulou is a Senior Industrial Fellow with IfM Education and Consultancy Services (IfM ECS), the knowledge transfer arm of the IfM. She is responsible for developing custom-designed services to support the strategy and innovation activities of companies of all sizes, and is leader of the Science2Society University Knowledge Transfer pilot.
