Introduction of University-Industry Communication Plans to Increase the Employment Rate of Graduates in Conversation with Dr. Rasti

Dr. Rasti, the head of the Industry Relations Office at the university, elaborated on the activities of the office in an interview with the public relations department.
According to the university's public relations report, in this conversation, Dr. Rasti mentioned various initiatives of this office aimed at establishing connections between the university and the country's industry, and engaging students in hands-on work environments. He regarded these programs as highly effective in enhancing students' self-confidence and ensuring their future employment, stating: "For example, by monitoring graduates who participated in the industry partnership program during their studies, it became clear that most of them secured jobs. Achieving the top rank in the country for graduate employment at the bachelor's level with 82.41% last year is a result of the industrial connections made by the university's professors and other industry relations activities, including the industry partnership program." He added: "The continuation and strengthening of these activities have raised the employment percentage from 82.41% in the 1399 assessment to 90.6% in 1400."
In addition to implementing the industry partnership program, Dr. Rasti emphasized that holding standard HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment) courses during internships is another factor that can facilitate students' future employment through skill enhancement and self-confidence. Another activity of the Industry Relations Office is the creation of the Seda system (Industry, University, Elevation) at the address https://seda.qut.ac.ir, which serves as a platform for offering and requesting research projects, technology projects, commercialization services, employment, internships, industry partnerships, and the secretariat for industry and university relations. This system is largely complete and will be unveiled soon. He also mentioned ongoing projects, including tax exemption proposals for companies that have research contracts with the university and the technology building project, details of which were postponed for the future.
In response to a question about the similarities and differences between the national Sadaf program conducted by the Pardis Technology Park and the university's industry partnership program, Dr. Rasti stated:
"We studied the provisions of the Sadaf program. It appears that the Sadaf program fundamentally differs from the industry partnership program in the following ways:
The Sadaf program aims to empower students through self-discovery training, career counseling, and courses related to technology and innovation. Notably, the interesting aspect of this program is that students undertake individual or group projects related to the field of the company to prepare for employment. For example, if the goal is to design and manufacture a mold, a mold is assigned to the student for both design and construction, which resembles an internship and apprenticeship experience aimed at easing the employment pathway. However, the industry partnership program focuses on solving problems and challenges and industrial development. In this context, students engage in monitoring the industry and diagnosing issues, and they also work in specialized teams alongside professors to enhance their capabilities.
Student empowerment in the Sadaf program revolves around executing an in-house project for which the company already possesses sufficient expertise, and the student merely learns those aspects. In contrast, in the industry partnership program, students work alongside professors on projects that the company cannot handle, thus setting apart the principal difference between the two programs.
Moreover, in the industry partnership program, students negotiate with factory managers alongside professors, fostering self-belief; whereas, in the Sadaf program, students engage with technical experts, leading to the industry partnership program developing students into creative managers and engineers who learn to have a critical and expansive perspective towards any task, while the Sadaf program trains students as technical specialists, both of which are indeed needed in the industry.