Amirkabir University of Technology as Innovative and Entrepreneurial University: The Achievements and Challenges

Entrepreneurship and innovation is one of the new policies to promote the level of social responsibility and achieve the goals of social change and sustainable development. Innovative and entrepreneurial university is one of the main scenarios for effective participation of higher education in the development process. Amirkabir University of Technology is one of the entrepreneurial universities based on the historical background of its establishment and activity, the efforts of the leaders and the academic community and the expectations of the stakeholders, which can be innovative and entrepreneur by interacting and influencing the target industry and society. In this article , based on the "Guiding Framework of Innovative and Entrepreneurial University", the joint product of EC and OECD, the level of innovation and entrepreneurship of the university and the fulfillment of the criteria of innovative and entrepreneurial university evaluated by case study method. According to the study, despite efforts and initiatives of the leaders and managers, its level of innovation and entrepreneurship is below and there is a significant gap between the current situation and the expectations. With its special mission to move towards innovation and entrepreneurship, this university should be in seven areas including governance, financial capacities, teaching-learning function, mechanisms to support entrepreneurs, knowledge exchange and synergistic cooperation with industrial communities, international scientific mobility, more use from the capabilities of digital transformation in scientific and organizational dimensions, act simultaneously and balanced. Designing and implementing a "Comprehensive Strategic-Operational Medium-Term Plan" based on the "Dimensions and Criteria of the Guiding Framework of Innovative and Entrepreneurial University" is a principled proposal for this university to become an innovative and entrepreneurial university.