Conclusions: Consolidated Research Findings and Recommendations

Over the years, there has been growing calls for academia to work closely with industry and several models have been developed such as the Triple Helix framework. Generally, such models were premised on the basis of close collaboration of academia, governments and industry in such a way that academia provided the tuition and development of human resources required by governments and industry, governments provided grants to operationalise tertiary institutions while industry produced goods and services as well as contributed in taxation as the largest source of income for governments. This chapter consolidates and summarises the key areas covered throughout the book focusing on going beyond the Triple Helix concept to incorporate other key stakeholders using the systems thinking methodology and developing models to enhance the quality of engineering education and practice in tertiary institutions and industries. This was based on research findings in Southern Africa and recommendations for further research to revamp and strengthen ties between academia and industry.