Title:	INCREASING TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING STUDENT INNOVATION ABILITY AND APTITUDE THROUGH COLLABORATIVE CROSS-DISCIPLINE INNOVATION BOOTCAMPS
Author(s):	Geoffrey A. Wright
ISBN:	978-972-8924-78-2
Editors:	Piet Kommers and Pedro Isaías
Year:	2009
Edition:	2
Keywords:	Technology, Engineering, Innovation, Collaboration
Type:	Short Paper
First Page:	80
Last Page:	84
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	To keep pace and stay ahead of the rapid development and implementation of new science and technology in the 21st century, we believe engineers need to possess an understanding of innovation and related skills (i.e., creativity, problem finding and forming, ability to generate and develop new ideas into practical and helpful products, processes, and so forth). This research focuses on the methods and efforts developed and being implemented to advance the culture of innovation within our college of technology and engineering. The primary method we have developed to train, and help our students better understand the process of innovation, and engage related principles has been an Innovation Boot Camp. The Innovation Boot Camp is intensive hands-on, collaborative experiential learning workshop focused on educating students on the principles of innovation by providing them several real-world problems they are to solve. The structure of the initial Innovation Boot Camp was a two-day experience, blending students and faculty from six different programs/departments (i.e., Technology Engineering Education, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Design, and so forth) in the college of engineering. The primary instructional techniques and curriculum was based on “design thinking.” Using a hybrid model culled from several sources including IDSA National Conference presentations, site visits to the Stanford d.school and IDEO, publications from the The Rotman School of Business, and other sources on creative problem solving, we defined Design Thinking as being a method that is User Centered, has a tradition of Prototyping (including visualization), and a Trust in the Process of: 1) Seeking inspiration for problem finding through the activities of Look, Do, and Ask; 2) Broad divergent ideation; 3) Implementation in the form of prototyping; and 4) Public Presentation using the activities of Show, Tell, and Act.
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