(321a) Using a Structured Approach to Efficiently Use the Brains of Other to Make Problem Solving More Productive

Innovation is more often done within a team framework compared to decades ago. This allows the various functions within an organization to contribute not only ideas, but differing perspectives on the problem as well as potential solution concepts.

In today’s world, this is not sufficient. We fail to recognize that the problems we face are similar to those in other industries and we do not pro-actively look for potential solutions outside our industry. One fairly recent example is that of the “Pumps and Pipes” consortium based in Houston. Though to a chemical engineer, Reynolds number as a measure of turbulence and wall adhesion is well known, the fact that this principle applies equally well to the pipes inside the body as well as oil and gas lines went unnoticed for decades. This consortium, now including NASA and fuel propulsion, is now cross pollinating mutual knowledge and problem solving.

This workshop will discuss several additional examples and provides a framework for participants to identify their own parallel universes that can be leveraged to accelerate innovation.