Colloquia

The on-going global economic transformations require that industries strongly focus on innovation, time to market, quality and cost in the introduction of new products. The trend in each industry is to focus on core competencies and obtain the additional resources from external alliances and partnerships with Universities and Government. "Coopetition" is emerging as the most effective approach for technology transfer, i.e. the path from idea to products. This requires a totally different and much more pervasive role of the physicist. In addition to the scientific skills, the scientist needs interdisciplinary and communication skills in order to successfully interact in the industrial environment. Examples will be given. Specific suggestions for the role of the university in forming the physicists with the proper requirements for the modern industry will be discussed.