Industry has a vital interest in engineering education since the quality of graduates is of critical importance to the success of its endeavors. This interest is usually manifested by industry contributions to engineering education by participation in advisory boards, joint supervision of student projects, acceptance of students for industrial placement, sponsorship of final year projects, and by sponsoring prizes and scholarships [33].
Thus, the authors find it important to be connected to industry so as to be able to respond to industry needs and provide practical and useful training to students. As a result, once these students graduate, they will be skilled, in great demand, and well paid. Projects create an opportunity for students to become familiar with the sponsoring companies. In addition, representatives from the sponsoring companies attend many design review sessions. This provides a unique opportunity for both students and sponsors to establish relationships that may lead to summer internships, co-ops, and even permanent positions in the future. Another benefit is that industry brings realism into the engineering design, as students struggle with the ever-changing demands imposed on them by the industrial partner. The students also see that industry is interested in their work, which provides further motivation for the students to perform their best.