Practice of Innovation

"The way we work is our most important innovation." Observations by Curtis R. Carlson

NAE & NSF Value Creation Best Practices

Value Creation Best Practices The premier R&D and value creation programs at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) are Engineering Research Centers.  These are initiatives where multidisciplinary teams address grand challenge opportunities with $50M of funding over ten years.  The centers are formed from leading U.S. universities and commercial partners.  The goals of the initiatives are: 1) paradigm-shifting research, 2) training of students in team science and value creation, and 2).. Read More

Best Education for Our Era

The WPI Plan Executive summary: Technical graduates must be accomplished value creators to thrive over their careers. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has pioneered the experiential education needed for success in the global innovation economy.  In 2016 the WSJ selected WPI as the top U.S. school for combining teaching and research.  

Finding High-Impact Opportunities

Colliding Exponentials Executive summary:  Solutions to many unmet customer and market needs are enabled by the convergence of exponentially improving technologies.  Convergence science requires intensely collaborative and sustained value creation methodologies.    At the Internet of Things (IoT) conference in China last fall, with a thousand participants and many from manufacturing, I listen to Alibaba’s Jack Ma.  He talked about his early career and some of the mistakes he made.  He then,.. Read More

css.php