INCULCATING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION AMONGST ENGINEERING STUDENTS

Abstract

Engineering, by its very nature, is a highly creativediscipline. The working engineer is constantly called upon to solve avariety of problems, and while many of the solutions are based onexisting technologies and processes, the design constraints are oftensuch that an alternative and novel solution emerges. The products ofinnovative engineering design are to be found all around; some inthe public eye such as major civil engineering projects, whilst othersare hidden below layers of superficial wrapping, such as the MEMSdevices within a game console interface. The creation of innovativesolutions, for many, involves a conscious shift in the type and levelof thinking about the problem and is not necessarily a function ofintelligence. This paper discusses the methods employed to raise thelevel of innovative thinking amongst students within an ElectricalEngineering programme and the outcomes of such interventions.