(458b) Using Other Peoples' Brains to Invent New Products

Inventing and commercializing new products is a risky proposition. One of the ways of minimizing costs and time to market is to use technology approaches from parallel universes that are non-competitive with the new product or business concept. “TRIZ” (theory of Inventive Problem Solving) is a methodical way of identifying parallel functional universes where the same objective and result is of interest but may not be in direct commercial conflict. This presentation will overview the use of this process in the medical and consumer product areas and illustrate with examples.