【Course Title】

Invention, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

【Instructor】

【Teaching Language】

English

【Credits/Credit Hours】

2/32

【Students】

Undergraduate and graduate students

【Size of Class】

30

【Prerequisites & Requirements】

Engineering major; Above average English language proficiency

【Methods of Instruction】

Lecturing with research project  

【Performance Evaluation】

Performance will be graded according to the following criteria:

Class participation (attendance, classroom discussion, peer learning): 30%

Project (teamwork): 40%

Final Exam (written, close book): 30%

【About the Instructor】

Mr. Trones has been a principal engineer in Aerospace Division at Honeywell International, Intel, and other multinational companies for more than 25 years. During his tenure at Honeywell, he generated $250M+ in cost avoidance and increased profit from turning problems into product innovations. He has extensive experience in engineering innovation and product development for global market. He was a primary driver for Velocity Product Development(TM) within Engineering and Technology group at Honeywell. -

【Course Description】

The Invention, Innovation & Entrepreneurship is taught by a group of inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs from U.S. multinational companies. The goal of the course is to cultivate 21st century engineers in obtaining key skills for solving challenging engineering problems and designing innovative products in a global context.

In the course, students experience the complete process of developing new products from concept design to prototype, and interact with international entrepreneurs.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Understand concepts of global invention, innovation, commercialization, and entrepreneurship;

• Understand how global engineering constraints, risks, ethnic, and engineering process affect new product design;

• Understand global engineering innovation models;

• Understand systematic innovation approaches such as SCAMPER and TRIZ, and their applications in solving real world global engineering problems and designing new products;

• Understand global engineering best practices and enabling technologies;

• Understand the roles of international patents, intellectual property, and venture capital in international entrepreneurship;

• Understand how invention and innovation principles are used in real-world global engineering projects;

• Understand how to writ international patents, form business models, and develop business plans.

In the class, students will interact with inventors and entrepreneurs from the United States, and work with the international senior engineers to create engineering solutions for solving real world engineering problems.

【Syllabus】

The course is comprised of Mindsets and Project. The major contents of the Mindsets are outlined below.

Unit 1: Introduction to Innovation

1.1  Innovation Overview

1.2  Invention and Innovation

1.3  Entrepreneurship

1.4  The Global Innovation Center: Silicon Valley

Unit 2: Global Innovation Models

2.1 Innovation Model Overview

2.2 Product Innovation

2.3 Process Innovation

2.4 Marketing Innovation

2.5 Business Model Innovation

2.6 Service Innovation

2.7 Sustaining Innovation

2.8 Disruptive Innovation

Unit 3: Systematic Innovation

3.1 Gated Product Innovation Process

3.2 Concept Generation

3.3 Innovation with SCAMPER

3.4 Concept Selection

3.5 Rapid Prototyping

Unit 4: Engineering Innovation with TRIZ

4.1 TRIZ Concepts

4.2 TRIZ Problem Solving

4.3 TRIZ Tools for Creativity

4.4 TRIZ Process Overview

4.5 TRIZ Altshuller Parameters

4.6 TRIZ Contradiction Matrix

4.7 TRIZ 40 Inventive Principles

4.8 TRIZ Case Studies: Boeing 737

Unit 5: How Innovation Really Works

5.1 Innovation Case Studies

5.2 Jumpstarting Innovation

5.3 Global Best Practices in Innovation

5.4 Enabling Technologies for Innovation

Unit 6: Global Technology Transfer

6.1 Technology Transfer Basics

6.2 Global Commercialization process

6.3 International Intellectual Property (IP)

6.4 Stage of Development

6.5 Diffusion of Engineering Innovations

6.6 Engineering license

Unit 7: Entrepreneurship

7.1 Entrepreneurs and Startups

7.2 Starting a New Venture

7.3 Financing a New Venture

7.4 Writing Business Plan

7.5 Case Studies: A Path for Startups

7.6 High-tech Enterprise Incubation System

Unit 8: Innovation & Entrepreneurship Case Studies

8.1 IBM: Global innovation

8.2 General Motors: A century of innovation and leadership

8.3 General Electric: Open innovation

8.4 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Innovation projects

8.5 The Silicon Valley model: Apple

8.6 The Silicon Valley model: Google

8.7 The Silicon Valley model: Facebook

【Textbooks】

None

【Reference Readings】

None