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Amir Wassif

Biography:

Founded United Electronics in 1977, a manufacturing company in Alexandria specialized in the design and manufacture of electronic controls for industry applications. Capitalizing on his extensive experience in industrial controls, he later established UNITEL in Borg el Arab- Alexandria, which specializes in Materials Handling Systems. Today, UNITEL is Egypt?s leading supplier of many types of conveyors and integrated handling systems such as warehousing systems, assembly lines for white goods and specialized materials handling systems. UNITEL has thousands of installations and a customer base in Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.
Founded INTEGRA , a manufacturer of Agro Produce Processing Systems, in Borg el Arab, and Gulf Handling Co. a trading company in the UAE.
Amir Wassef is a member of the Alexandria Business Association and has chaired the Information Committee of ABA for eleven years, and is now a consultant to this committee.
Member of the board of Trustees- Borg el Arab City and chairs the Strategic Planning Committee, and he is contributing to the definition of the long term strategic plan of this industrial city.
Additionally Amir Wassef is also a Consultant to the Social Fund for Development for Small and Micro Enterprises in Borg el Arab and a board member of the Medium and Small Enterprise Association in Borg el Arab.
In 2004 he was appointed by the Ministry of Higher Education as the Egyptian Industry representative in the Founding Team of the Egyptian Japanese University for Science and Technology in Borg el Arab, where he has made many contributions to integrate academia with industry in this unique project between the governments of Egypt and Japan. He is an Advisor to the President of the-Egypt-Japan University for Science & Technology- for International and External Affairs, and a member of the University Council of EJUST.
Amir Wassef is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Mechanical Engineering Department of the American University in Cairo.
Amir Wassef?s main hobby is flying and he started flying at a young age, where he won Egypt?s championship in 1968. He holds a pilot license for gliders and single engine small aircrafts. He is now a Senior Flight Instructor for gliders and single engine small aircrafts at the local air club in Alexandria Nozha Airport as well as a Board Member of the Alexandria Flying Club.
He is a Past President of the Rotary Club of Alexandria Mariout and an ex-Board member Borg el Arab Investors Association, and an ex Member of the Board of Trustees Amreya Technical School and Borg el Arab Technical School.
His professional affiliations include membership of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers USA (IEEE), membership of Communication Society USA, membership of the Computer Society USA, and the Industrial Automation Society of the IEEE, USA.

Abstract:

Industry and Academia Relations in Developing Economies

It is widely understood that economic growth is mainly driven by the ability of countries to harness the power of science and technology through innovation. Growing the economy implies addressing the main factors that affect the competitiveness of industry in the context of the various phases of economic development. Creating an environment that fosters innovations through cooperation between Academia and Industry in developing economies is the focal point of this proposal.

The different stakeholders for establishing a successful industry-academia relationship often overlook the two main beneficiaries of this relation, namely government and society.

The generic classification of industries according to the Porter model is identified and the various characteristics for each industry class are uncovered, together with their relevant R&D requirements. This implies that any cooperation between academia and industry should take these varying requirements into consideration.

The issue is further compounded by industry fragmentation which characterizes most developing economies. Academia and governments must be fully aware of these factors in order to be able to devise a fruitful cooperation strategy involving all four stakeholders - Government, Academia, Industry and Society.

The motivations of each stakeholder for conducting research are quite different; therefore a common understanding of what each party�s expectations and limitations are, is essential in order to lead to win-win situations.

Industry position in developing economies is identified and the motivations to conduct research are listed as a base for building a roadmap for cooperation between stakeholders.

Government motivations are straightforward but often overlooked by the other stakeholders. The issues hampering the creation of a successful R&D government policy are listed together with critical factors that should be recognized in order to support government policies.

The main motives of Academia to conduct research are examined within the context of the current Universities ranking systems. The new ranking system proposed by the Times Higher Education classification shifts towards explicitly including Academia- Industry relations and research as key ranking factors and could well become the new paradigm in evaluating universities. The classic linear paradigm for linking basic and applied research must be critically reviewed in contrast to the emerging paradigm of the iterative model linking research with society through industry.

Within the context of establishing E-JUST, the American and Japanese R&D systems were examined only to reveal that most of the entities needed to emulate these systems are already in place in most developing economies, however the cohesiveness and effective linkage between them is usually weak. In conclusion we state that government policies towards R&D are the main drivers towards creating an effective bond between industry and academia and a set of proposals for fostering such policies are formulated for Government, Academia and Industry.