Abstract:

The University stage and the professional life are consecutive areas of development, whose passage from one to another is often at the mercy of the evolution of the student or newly graduated. However, and given the general objectives targeted by the successive revisions of University teaching, the graduate studies should provide a formative education and, therefore, should favor a meeting point for both seasons. This paper reflects on the experiences of approximation to the professional reality, carried out in the School of Architecture of Valencia (ETSAV), through some agreements with companies.
In recent years, several companies from the construction’s sector of the manufacture of materials or industrial design have signed agreements with the ETSAV under the protection of the Law of Promotion and General Coordination of Scientific and Technical Research. The objectives respond to innovation and modernization of the productive system, as one of the aims pursued by the teaching and research, not without discarding the prestige that each University can offer in these collaborations. In the case of the company's prefabricated pressed concrete -VERNI•PRENS, s.a.- or the famous brand of porcelain objects -LLADRÓ COMERCIAL, s.a.-, the agreements are developed through various activities, coordinated by one or several teachers, seeking to introduce the student in the professional world. Training specialized sessions, contests for students, intensive workshops, visits or study tours are some of the actions allowing to simulate the working world at the time that bring innovations in the field of teaching. The company, on the other hand, is rewarded with a renewal of ideas, a wide dissemination of its products and the knowledge of the interests of a future market.
The different activities run by the teachers responsible of the agreements allow concluding a highly positive assessment from the educational point of view in these more than 3 years of experience. The applied study causes an increase in technical know-how specific partners, not only for companies subject to the agreement, but also for the sector in general. Workshops and contests lead to creative processes of design and implementation of the materials with innovative results. Furthermore, the motivation of students participating in experiences that bring to the immediate professional world is significantly increased.

Keywords:

University/Industry, Architecture Education.