In this first edition of our Faculty Spotlight with industrial partnership by the UW-Madison College of Engineering Office of Corporate Relations, we are excited to share insights from Dr. Mark Anderson, a leading researcher at the forefront of university-industry collaborations. In our interview, he shares his experiences, challenges, and strategies for effective industrial engagement.
Dr. Anderson, thank you for speaking with us. Through our UW WISER award data analysis, you emerged as the faculty member with the highest number of industry sponsored awards. Why do you conduct industrial collaborations, and what is your secret to this success?
Mark Anderson: It’s my pleasure. We sometimes use industrial grants to fund student research, providing them with hands-on experience that directly applies to the industry. I also make it a priority to help students find jobs, often with the companies we partner with. It’s all about giving them the skills and the connections they need to succeed after graduation.
As for my success, finding industry partners is mainly about leveraging my network. Former students play a significant role. Many of them are now in the industry, and they understand the kind of expertise we have in our lab. This leads to natural opportunities for collaboration. Conferences are also a major part of it—academic or industrial conferences provide an excellent venue to meet potential partners and showcase our capabilities.
Additionally, we often collaborate with national labs, which further helps connect with relevant industry players. Finally, my team also does some fee for services to industrial partners, and these services help establish trust on relatively small quick projects, which often lead to larger research projects. Once companies understand our lab’s capabilities, they frequently come back with specific service contracts or research contracts which further deepen the relationship, including Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) projects.
How do you view the role of our industrial consortia in facilitating university-industry collaboration?
Mark Anderson: Consortia are an excellent platform for collaboration because it brings together multiple stakeholders who share common interests. It works well for general research topics that require a collective approach and allows industry partners to see the quality of students working in the lab, which often turns into recruitment opportunities. The engagement activities, including Lunch with Industry seminar and company site visits, are both critical to building trust through in-depth discussions.
You have been awarded several SBIR/STTR grants with industry partners. What are the biggest challenges you face in securing industry-only funding?
Mark Anderson: SBIR funding is generally more straightforward than industry derived funding. There’s a clear process, and you know what to expect. Industry-only funding can be unpredictable and often depends on the company’s internal priorities and budget.
Sometimes, a company is very enthusiastic today, but it might disappear for a year and return suddenly, expecting results immediately. This inconsistency makes research planning difficult, so we have a team (three scientists, two technicians, several doctoral students, and a few undergraduates) ready to move quickly when these opportunities arise. Another big challenge is contract negotiations—legal hurdles from the industry and the university can slow things down. It takes patience and open communication to keep everyone on the same page. Due to the uncertainty of industrial funding, faculty members would be motivated to take on more industrial projects to support our PhD students if our college could provide some buffer funds in case companies cut the project prematurely
Beyond the Interview: Our call for continued engagement with us
We found Dr. Anderson’s collaboration with the industry impressive and appreciated his lab tour. Similarly, Dr. Victor M. Zavala shared similar strategies and tactics during our quick chat regarding his successful industrial collaboration. We hope that their success inspires you and that you can apply their best practices to enhance your own industry partnerships. If you want to be featured in our next article, please email us at xiujuan.zhang@wisc.edu, or jfitzgibbon@wisc.edu, or russ.johnson@wisc.edu.