Welcome to the Magnifying Innovation in Industry project at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
To continue to enhance the innovation essential for the U.S. economy and to address critical societal challenges we must develop new and better processes for innovation, and see those processes adopted by innovation drivers – from boardroom executives to basement startups. This research project investigates innovators’ adoption of new innovation processes, methods and practices through the study of scientists, engineers, designers, and innovators in large industrial R&D settings.
-Prof. Julie Linsey
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2230550. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Partnerships with Industry
Design researchers at academic institutions develop new tools and methods to advance innovation. While some techniques receive broad adoption (e.g. Design Thinking) many design and innovation tools receive mixed adoption or never make it to industry. For example the techniques and tools designed in academia to facilitate biologically inspired design are rarely used, and despite the transformative potential, biologically inspired design remains a niche innovation method. This research seeks to understand the catalysts and barriers for the adoption of innovation tools in industrial R&D organizations in order to better align design researchers with industry expectations and needs. Our industry partners are leaders in their field who are seeking innovative products to meet the needs of tomorrow. Partners who participate in this research will gain additional insight into their own design practices, perspectives on other (non-competing) industry R&D practices, and will help shape the future of innovation practice research.
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Tools for Design
Bio-inspired Design
- Nature has developed creative, low energy processes which designers can learn from
- Cross-pollinate ideas of biological systems to assist engineers with developing novel solutions to complex problems
- Biomimicry empowers companies to create disruptive new products, delivering increased performance to customers
Patent Mining
- R&D departments require metrics when determining development goals and patent mining can aid with technology performance forecasting
- Leverage the plethora of publicly available knowledge to your benefit
- Uncover existing designs that elevate the performance of your product
Design Heuristics
- Implement the TRIZ method to solve design conflicts within your product
- Overcome design fixation and broaden your solution space to identify new ideas
- Energize concept generation methods to empower all voices and uncover novel designs