The production engineering education how generator technological innovations for the regional development

Abstract

In this paper, it is described a didactic-pedagogic experiment that has been carried through since 2002, in a Course of Production Engineering, in a university in the southern region of Brazil. Rather than holding entirely to the traditional teaching approach, this course is based on the development, adaptation and implementation of curricula designed to encourage the students to develop technological innovations to attend demands identified in real-life local industry and contribute to the overall regional development. As a result, up to the present date, 156 projects for new products and processes have been elaborated and placed at the disposition of local industries for final development in partnership with the university. These projects are therefore an option for R&D investment as an alternative to the diversification of production that is capable of improving the quality of life in the regional community.