Academia vs. Industry?

I attended a conference this week for Engineering Sustainability. I was overall impressed with the nice mix of industry and academic folks presenting as it seems more typical to see predominantly the latter at these types of events. What wasn't impressive is the sibling rivalry mentality of the two groups that underlined the conference. It was as if the two groups felt they needed to be at odds with each other or find fault in the others' work. I wonder, then, where this sort of conflict arises. At the end of the day the goal was the same although the pathways somewhat different. Maybe one group is more cost driven and the other more idealistic, but it seems as though only in working together will any real change occur.

How is it that industry and academia come to butt heads, so to speak? If most of the folks in industry came through the university system, where does this animosity spark? Since I have navigated both worlds, I think I can speak to part of the problem. When I was going through engineering in an ABET accredited university, I had maybe 2 professors who were also licensed professional engineers. All of my other professors were pure academics and never had consulted or practiced in industry (public or private). While I value academic insight (clearly since I am going for a PhD), I also see value in having professors who have worked with industry, or, at least, bring in industry folks to co-teach or lecture occasionally. A common gripe by my peers was that the courses relied too heavily on theory and the professors and syllabus lacked practicality, relevance and the "real world."

While I will sit for the PE when I complete my PhD (and hopefully my students will appreciate my work experience), I still will incorporate partnerships with industry in project development and throughout the course development phase. Maybe, if we, as academics, start partnering with industry, we can help break through the seeming sibling rivalry and take steps forward together.