Office of Research and Dissemination

Introduction 

In the institute, the Research and Dissemination Office was established in 2023 as a new organogram and a Director heads it. The Research and Dissemination Office is integral in steering the institute's strategic direction of research initiatives. This position involves overseeing the development and implementation of research projects, ensuring they align with the organization’s goals and objectives. By managing a team of researchers and analysts, the office ensures that the research produced is of high quality, relevant, and timely. This role requires a deep understanding of the industry, as well as the ability to identify emerging trends and opportunities that can inform decision-making processes. Through collaboration with other departments, the Research and Dissemination Office helps to translate research findings into actionable strategies, thereby supporting the organization’s growth and innovation efforts. Dissemination and communication of research should be considered as an integral part of any research project. Both help in increasing the visibility of research outputs, public engagement in science and innovation, and the confidence of society in research. Effective dissemination and communication are vital to ensure that the conducted research has a social, political, or economic impact. They draw the attention of governments and stakeholders to research results and conclusions, enhancing their visibility, comprehension, and implementation.

Strategic Vision of R & D Office: 

Our vision is to become a center of excellence in transferring education outcomes and technology from the institute to the local and regional community, becoming problem solvers and solution providers for businesses/industry organizations in society by 2025.

Strategic Mission of R &D Office: 

    1. To promote and publicize our institute and faculties among businesses, industry, and the local community at the region/country level.

   2. To initiate cooperation between the academic community at the institute and local businesses.

   3. To establish links and channels between research centers at the institute and industry in the surrounding area.

   4. Strengthen and widespread the IIL

   5. To support and follow up on internal research funding. 

    6. To initiate the spin-off of new companies in the institute and/or surrounding. 

    7. To support entrepreneurship and creativity. 

    8. To foster continuous development in technology transfer, community service, and research and publication in the institute.

    9. Conducting annual  national and international conferences

Publishes/disseminates research outputs

  - Establishes a reward and incentive system for publications arising from R&D activities, including commercial applications. 

  -  Makes preliminary review of research outputs, manuscripts, and other materials submitted for possible publication.

  - Responsible for qualitative and quantitative research activities related to the hedge fund manager selection process which includes identification, analysis, recommendation, and monitoring

  - Assist in writing white papers and research studies, clearly and compellingly, and help create data visualizations

  - Establish and maintain partnerships with external stakeholders, including academic institutions, industry partners, and funding bodies, to enhance research opportunities and outcomes.

Institute Industry Linkage and Consultancy

Institute of Ethiopian Textile and Fashion Technology (EiTEX) a premier institute under Bahir Dar University is responsible for human resource development for the Textile, Apparel, and Fashion industry in Ethiopia. There are different programs given under the institution (Textile Engineering, Garment Engineering, Fashion Design, Leather Engineering and Textile & Apparel Merchandizing). All programs are imparting education in crucial areas of technology application in the Textile, Apparel, and Leather industries.  After completion of the 3^rd and 4^th Years of study at the institute and the students have to move to industries to conduct a four-month industry internship practice with leading textile, Apparel, and Leather industries all over the country as part of their course. 

Internship Program

Internships are work-based activities in which students engage in learning through practical and relevant experiences at various internship sites. Internship is undertaken by students who are at or near the end of their academic program. These structured experiences involve the practical application of previously studied theory through coursework. Internships are targeted to the students’ meaningful future plans and allow students to explore careers that require additional knowledge, certification, or on-the-job training.

Model internships are planned, structured, and evaluated by the intern, internship coordinator, Company internship Supervisor and academic advisor/mentor/, and even parents. Effective internships provide interns with the opportunities to develop an understanding of the career area duties and responsibilities, terminology, process, protocol, and other information that will enable interns to analyze and revise their meaningful future plans. There must be agreements, understandings, instruction, and orientation for all participants; coordination by each program and office of industry linkage, evaluation of each intern’s experience; and program analysis for future improvements.

Objectives

This industry internship is aimed towards blending classroom principles with industry application. This internship will help the industry to analyze day-to-day activities with the help of internees who in turn will learn the practical application of different principles and will be able to draw inferences. This internship also helps students to learn and improve their interpersonal communication skills with colleagues, group and workers.

It is known that students will be working in different organizations for about four months to complete the Industrial Internship Course. During this period students will gain on-the-job practical training under the guidance of assigned advisors (academic advisor and company advisor). 

So, the objective of the internship is; 

   -  To let students understand the whole system of the company with practical exposure. 

   - To know the application of real-life projects and/or assignments based on current market demand that can be decided based on the company’s requirements. 

Benefits and Advantages of the Internship

The internship program is an arrangement involving the student, the school/program, and the industries/organizations of the community. Each of these will benefit from the existence and operation of an effective internship program. Some benefits of the program include but are not limited to:

    -  Students receive guidance and feedback during the entire internship period.

    -  Industries/organizations are utilized for specialized training.

    -  Internship experiences assist in exploring future career choices.

    - The private sector is provided with opportunities to take an active part in the education and career preparation of students in the local community.

    -  Job experiences are supplemented with technical information and encounters that cannot be simulated in the classroom.

In addition to these general benefits, internships offer specific advantages to the student, the institute, and the organization.

Internship Student’s Task 

It is known that students will be working in different organizations for four months to complete their Industrial Internship Course. During this period the students will gain on-the-job practical training under the guidance of their advisors (academic advisor and company advisor).  The objective of the internship is categorized into the following two tasks 

Task one 

Students are expected to understand the whole system of the company (from the supplier side to the customer side).

Task two

Task two is a project work on a specific problem area that can be decided based on the output of the first task. The title and the content of this task can be decided by the student and their advisors. The individuality and originality of your work is the minimum criteria for your project to be accepted by the institute.

The procedure to do the project is as follows 

-  summary of the project

-  Problem statement & Justification

-  Objective of the project

-  Scope of the project 

-  Benefits and beneficiaries of the project

-  Methodology

-  Literature review

-  Result & Discussion

-  Recommendation and conclusion

Technology Transfer and Incubation Center 

The Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology (EiTEX) was established as a Textile Technology Department in 1963 under Bahir Dar Poly Technique Institute. For about 33 years the training program was at the level of Diploma and advanced diploma in the field of Textile Technology. In 1996 the Department of Textile Technology changed to Textile Engineering Department and the training program correspondingly promoted to Degree level. Far along in 2009, the Textile Engineering Department of Engineering Faculty under Bahir Dar University was promoted to the Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology. Until recent times the Ethiopian Institute of Textile and Fashion Technology has been the prime institute in supplying a trained labor force for Ethiopian textile and apparel sector industries for the last five decades. After its establishment, as an institute, EiTEX has stated, its mission and vision that will enable it strong for academic training, research, and outreach activities at the national as well as the Regional level in the Textile, apparel, and leather sectors.

      To address the outreach activities, the EiTEX community service and Technology Transfer Office began its duty by reviewing all possible channels in EiTEX against conventional technology transfer channels between universities, industries, and the surrounding communities being used elsewhere.  The most common and effective Community service and technology transfer activities so far EiTEX engaged in addition to the human-embedded knowledge transfer, are:

-  Institute-industry cooperative research.

- A feasibility study in the Textile Apparel and leather sector.

-   Consultancy service for large- and small-scale industries.

-  Short-term training in Textile Apparel and leather sector.

-  Incubation of social enterprise in the handloom sector in collaboration with ITC.

-  Prototype development of machinery for small-scale manufacturers in the sector.

- Testing service of cotton, yarn, fabric, leather, and related materials for different institutions and industries

Vision:

To be a leading promoter of innovation and entrepreneurship that fosters synergy between the innovator and the institute to create a startup ecosystem. 

Mission: 

-  To motivate, build, and promote out-of-the-box thinking and development of innovative ideas. 

- To create an ecosystem on campus to nurture innovation for promoting entrepreneurship through industry collaborations by providing incubation facilities and services for greater social impact. 

-  To promote activities related to Ideation, Pre-incubation and Incubation to support startups

Basic advancements 

-  Set up and facilitate all University regulations to incubate ideas of the staff and students that could lead to a spin-off.

- Hard-working to become an entrepreneurial university by transforming our academic knowledge into economic and social utilities.

- Develop and deliver educational presentations and workshops related to IP and commercialization for the EiTEX research community.

-  An integrated institutional entrepreneurial culture

-  Promoting and providing incentives for TT members, productivity will be higher.

-   Ensuring adequate oversight and guidance of its technology transfer and commercialization structures and processes.

-  Promoting and supporting staff to engage in the TT and incubate.

Community service 

   -  Encourage science that meets society’s needs(community impact)

   -  Launch community service initiatives that have positive impacts on the environment and the community.

   -  Promote, develop, and community service initiatives and actively engage interested parties and community members.

   -  Develop measures for performance evaluation for department, faculty and students in terms of excellence in community service.

   -  Working with the Indigenous SME to support technical and market linking 

   -  Collaborate with multidiscipline researchers to support and deliver training, consultancy, maintenance, and other community engagements.

   -  Give training and consultancy to the SME on the production and quality based on the international standards

   -  Outreach activities will be strengthened by working in collaboration with the surrounding community;

Contact Person:

 Erkihun Zelalem (Assistant Professor)

 Director of Research and Dissemination Office

 Mobile number: +251 9 43 52 05 97

 Email: erkihunz09@gmail.com

 P.O.Box: 1037

                               Fax: +251 582 26 62 46