Evaluating Ideation Using the Publications Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Make in Coordination with a New Patent Search Tool and the 6-3-5 Method
- Conference
- Location
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San Antonio, Texas
- Publication Date
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June 10, 2012
- Start Date
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June 10, 2012
- End Date
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June 13, 2012
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Design in Engineering Education
- Page Count
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23
- Page Numbers
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25.586.1 - 25.586.23
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--21343
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/21343
- Download Count
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711
Paper Authors
Daniel D. Jensen U.S. Air Force Academy
Dan Jensen is a professor of engineering mechanics at the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he has been since 1997. He received his B.S. (mechanical engineering), M.S. (applied mechanics), and Ph.D. (aerospace engineering science) from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He has worked for Texas Instruments, Lockheed Martin, NASA, University of the Pacific, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and MSC Software Corp. His research includes design of Micro Air Vehicles, development of innovative design methodologies and enhancement of engineering education. Jensen has authored approximately 100 papers and has been awarded more than $2.5 million of research grants.
John J. Wood U.S. Air Force Academy
John J. Wood is currently an Associate Professor of engineering mechanics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Wood completed his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Colorado State University in the design and empirical analysis of compliant systems. He received his M.S. in mechanical engineering at Wright State University and his B.S. in aeronautical engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1984. Wood joined the faculty at the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1994 while serving on active duty in the U.S. Air Force. After completing his Ph.D. in 2002, he returned to the Air Force Academy where he has been on the faculty ever since. The current focus of Wood’s research is the continued development of empirical testing methods using similitude-based approaches. This approach provides significant potential for increasing the efficiency of the design process through a reduction in required full-scale testing and an expansion of the projected performance profiles using empirically-based prediction techniques. Wood’s research also includes the development of robotic ground and air vehicle systems using innovative conceptual design techniques for current technology implementations, as well as futuristic projections, applied in the framework of a senior capstone design course.
Philip Knodel U.S. Air Force Academy
Philip Knodel is currently a senior at the U.S. Air Force Academy and will commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force this May. At the academy, Knodel has studied to earn a B.S. in mechanical engineering for the past four years. As an officer, Knodel has been selected to serve as a pilot. Apart from his job and studies, Knodel is also an avid snowboarder and has a passion for sailing, having traveled and sailed in more than 20 countries around the world.
Kristin L. Wood University of Texas, Austin
Kristin L. Wood is currently a professor, Head of Pillar, and Co-director of the International Design Center (IDC) at Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Wood completed his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering (Division of Engineering and Applied Science) at the California Institute of Technology, where he was an AT&T Bell Laboratories Ph.D. Scholar. Wood joined the faculty at the University of Texas in Sept. 1989 and established a computational and experimental laboratory for research in engineering design and manufacturing. He was a National Science Foundation Young Investigator, the Cullen Trust for Higher Education Endowed Professor in Engineering, and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas, Austin.
Richard H. Crawford University of Texas, Austin
Richard H. Crawford is a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas, Austin, and is the Temple Foundation Endowed Faculty Fellow No. 3. He received his B.S.M.E. from Louisiana State University in 1982 and his M.S.M.E. in 1985 and Ph.D. in 1989, both from Purdue University. He joined the faculty of UT in Jan. 1990 and teaches mechanical engineering design and geometry modeling for design. Crawford's research interests span topics in computer-aided mechanical design and design theory and methodology, including research in computer representations to support conceptual design, design for manufacture and assembly, and design retrieval; developing computational representations and tools to support exploration of very complex engineering design spaces; research in solid freeform fabrication, including geometric processing, control, design tools, manufacturing applications; and design and development of energy harvesting systems. Crawford is co-founder of the DTEACh program, a Design Technology program for K-12, and is active on the faculty of the UTeachEngineering program that seeks to educate teachers of high school engineering.
Robert Vincent U. S. Air Force Academy
Abstract
Evaluating Ideation using the Publications Popular Science, Popular Mechanics and Make in Coordination with a New Patent Search Tool and the 6-3-5 Method AbstractThe ideation or concept generation stage in the design process is ripe with possibility for infusion ofcreativity that can lead to the development of innovative products and systems. Along with the desiredcreativity or novelty, concepts must be feasible in order to have promise as fielded products. Thiscombination of desired novelty and required feasibility can be difficult to attain. Various ideationtechniques have been developed which aid the designer in their quest for an innovative new product orsystem. In the current work, we evaluate four ideation techniques: use of the publications PopularScience and Popular Mechanics, use of the publication Make, use of a new patent search tool and use ofthe 6-3-5 “brain writing – rotational drawing” technique. The four techniques are described in detailwith particular emphasis placed on a description of the patent search tool as this ideation technique,based on recently developed software, has not been previously disseminated. The techniques are thenassessed to determine their utility in terms of quantity of ideas generated, novelty of the ideas andfeasibility of the ideas. This assessment was done in the context of a capstone design team working on arobotics oriented project. Specifically, the design team is developing small robots with the ability tomaneuver through rough terrain in caves or tunnels for surveillance purposes. Representativeassessment results include the fact that the design team was able to produce over 20 new conceptsusing the new patent search tool; validating that this new technique shows great promise. Also, thefeasibility of the concepts created using the Make publication was significantly higher (p-value of 0.06)than the concepts from the Popular Science and Popular Mechanics publications while the noveltyratings showed no statistically significant difference. Overall the team generated over 130 concepts withthe largest contributors to this quantity coming from the Make publication and the 6-3-5 technique.The paper concludes by noting the unique characteristics and resulting contributions from each of thefour ideations techniques along with suggestions regarding which technique(s) might be most beneficialdepending on the nature of a specific design challenge.
Jensen, D. D., & Wood, J. J., & Knodel, P., & Wood, K. L., & Crawford, R. H., & Vincent, R. (2012, June), Evaluating Ideation Using the Publications Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, and Make in Coordination with a New Patent Search Tool and the 6-3-5 Method Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21343
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