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The Product Innovation Engineering Program and International Collaboration

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This article summarizes efforts undertaken within the Swedish Product Innovation Engineering program (PIEp), in the area of education for product innovation. A key aspect of the program is to create a systematic change in higher engineering education in product development, to move toward a focus on innovative product development, where entrepreneurship thrives and student ideas are brought to reality. Examples include the introduction of new undergraduate and graduate courses in innovation engineering, close integration between project courses offered at PIEp partner universities, joint research projects, and workshops that allow entrepreneurs and companies to better utilize student ideas and projects.

During the first years of PIEp, in the build-up phase, a large effort has been placed on creating an international network of ‘innovation friends’. The founders strongly believe that the ‘wheel should not be invented again – rather that there is an obligation to search for, find, and gather all relevant actors within this field, on a global arena. Within the rather limited network of partners and friends established this far, several common interest areas have been explored, including activities such as university-spanning workshops and collaborative projects.

Introduction – The Product Innovation Engineering Program, PIEp

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 and companies. PIEp was launched in late 2006, with governmental funding,1 as the Product Innovation Engineering Program, PIEp.2 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.3 The program encompasses three areas of activities: research in product innovation,4 education for product innovation and industrial collaboration for product innovation.5, 6 PIEp addresses and facilitates increased Swedish ability in innovative product- and business development. The program ranges from theory to practice, from research in innovation to directed activities aimed at strengthening Swedish innovative product development. PIEp is implemented through research efforts, educational efforts and development projects. The research efforts are necessary to develop a common platform, to gather existing, and generate new, knowledge about the innovator, the innovation process and the innovation system. Further, PIEp contributes to technical research efforts which are governed not only by the scientific questions but also more directly from a product and innovation oriented perspective. The innovation climate in participating companies is developed through research, development and directed activities such as creative sessions and the building of networks.

A key aspect of the program is to create a systematic change in higher engineering education in product development, to move toward a focus on innovative product development, where entrepreneurship thrives and student ideas are brought to reality. Examples include the

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Grimheden, M. (2009, June), The Product Innovation Engineering Program And International Collaboration Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5191