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Education for Product Innovation – A ‘Good Practices’ Report

Abstract

This paper presents results from a study of good examples of education for product innovation. A selection of exemplifying courses, modules, exercises and projects are presented. The selection is made to show examples of good practices which could easily be integrated into existing courses and programs.

The Product Innovation Engineering program, PIEp, is the initiator of the study and the overall aim is to produce a state of the art report to be used in future course and program design in product innovation, within the Swedish PIEp network.

In the study, three subject areas have been in focus: creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. These focus areas have been applied primarily on higher engineering education and on programs of product development, engineering design and mechanical engineering. The study summarizes current status of research on education in creativity, creativity training and education in product innovation in general.

Introduction

The Product Innovation Engineering program (PIEp) is a Swedish national research and development program with the purpose of enhancing product innovation capability within Swedish universities, companies and organizations1, 2. This paper presents early results of an international study of courses, course modules and educational activities with the purpose of finding best-practices to serve as role models for the creation of new educational courses and programs within the Swedish PIEp universities.

In this study, three subject areas have been in focus: creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. These focus areas have been applied primarily on higher engineering education and on programs of product development, engineering design and mechanical engineering. A literature study is presented which summarizes current status of research on education in creativity, creativity training and education in product innovation in general. The literature study moves on to bridge from creativity to product innovation by presenting research on success factors for product development in terms of organization and environmental factors.

Product Innovation Engineering program, PIEp

In 2005, representatives from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, took the initiative to start a large, national long-term program to enhance product innovation capability in Sweden. This program was finally launched in late 2006, with governmental funding, as the Product Innovation Engineering Program, PIEp3, 4. The program is organized as a network of researchers, educators and students in innovation engineering with the ambition of creating a system change toward innovation and entrepreneurship in institutes of higher education and research. The program encompasses three areas of activities: research in product

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Grimheden, M. (2009, June), Education For Product Innovation: A "Good Practices" Report Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5081