This paper elaborates on the formats of situational and project-oriented education which, being embedded into university programs, enable senior technology and engineering students to develop design, project and entrepreneurial skills while working on real-life innovation challenges formulated by an industry partner. A non-exhaustive list of the mentioned formats is set out in the form of a conceptual model that describes an enterprise innovation process extended by the inclusion of academic thought-leadership and techsavvy students' insights into new products, services and business models development. Having completed a series of industry-supported hackathons and design-thinking workshops, the authors provide an explicit description of use-case scenarios, key success factors, and implications for applying the proposed model. The paper conclusion offers a list of benefits for using the model and further insights into setting up and running academia-business collaborations aimed at innovation design and applied research rather than skills development.
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