Academy-industry collaboration and the effects of the involvement of undergraduate students in real world activities

As stated by the IEEE Curriculum Guidelines for Undergraduate Degree Programs in Software Engineering, elements outside the classroom such as field trips, visits to industry and technical presentations can affect student's preparation for professional practice. This work describes a framework of academy-industry collaboration where students develop practical and academic activities in a real world scenario. It is a methodological research, in which a case study was conducted with a Government Agency that has a close collaboration with a University. This joint project led to the proposition of new software processes for the organization and produced research and capstone project papers. Results demonstrate that students have acquired experience in solving real world problems in the industry; they received recognition in the academic community through the acceptance of papers in international conferences; and also, the projects executed with the students produced outcomes that brought benefits to the government agency, under study.