Huawei has formed a partnership with James Cook University to develop technology based on the recently standardised Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT).
Huawei says it has provided James Cook University with the latest IoT technology as well as direct funding for specialised research, which it will use to host a dedicated l NB-IoT lab to research and develop applications, smart devices and sensor networks. It gave no indication of the value of the funding, or the in-kind contribution.
According to Huawei Australia CEO, Mr Xichu Zhao the laboratory will support the first IoT-specific engineering degree to be offered in Australia that will combine the study of electronic engineering with internet technologies, wireless communications, sensor devices, industrial design and cloud computing.
“Eighty students of JCU’s IoT specific engineering program will have the opportunity to train and learn on live, cutting edge IoT technology in real time,” Huawei said.
Huawei said research carried out at the lab would feed into Huawei’s global IoT development. Projects will include IoT for a smart reef, smart healthcare and smart agriculture.
Huawei will also offer IoT students at the university the opportunity to travel to its global headquarters in China and its Australian headquarters in Sydney as part of its Seeds for the Future program.
Of course companies should partner with universities to advance research, but what good can come of the link to the undergraduate degree? JCU, just like other regional universities such as CSU (Bachelor of Winemaking) and ECU (Bachelor of Surfing), are desperate to remain relevant. They pull these silly stunts and trivialise the academic nature of undergraduate degrees with awfully trade-specific specialisations. This is nothing more than a degree of the latest wizz bang shiny thing, sacrificing precious undergraduate time better spent learning to appreciate and accommodate whatever technology turns out to be relevant on graduation.
Huawei sponsoring lab equipment will only make the education less relevant. Pre-release, yet-to-be-finalised, highly-information-sensitive, expensive, megacorp-controlled technology does not make for a practical educational experience.