Engineering4891

Seminar on Creativity Innovation

Syllabus Spring 2015

Seminaron CreativityInnovation
Engineering4891 / SpringSemester2015
1CreditHourS/U
Mon 10:35– 11:55 pmDreese 0713
Instructor / Dr.PhilSchlosser / CourseCoordinator / Angela Lawver
Room221HitchcockHall /

Introduction

At anundergraduatelevel, traditional engineering and businesscourses havenot placedmuch emphasis oninnovative waystosolverealistic problems. Often times,themostsuccessfulprofessionalsare thosethatcanenvisionthemanagementofentireprojects.Thisvisionintegratesaclearunderstandingoftheproblem, thecreation anddevelopmentofinnovativesolutions,researchanddevelopmentstagesaswellasimplementationand commercialization.

This seminargoes throughthesesteps,developinganinnovativesolutiononthe broadbase ofproblems providedby the"engineering grandchallenges." The studentswillworkontheseprojectsin multidisciplinary teams.They are exposedtoandencouragedintoguidedinteractions withtheuniversity’s vastresearch andtechnicalinfrastructureanditsvitalhumanresources. Throughout the process,the conceptofcommercial viability orpossibleimpactfrom theventureis kept asaconstantmetric.

Bycrossingdisciplinesandbringingin faculty from various departments,theseminaraims to highlightand uncover ways ofconqueringsome ofthecross-disciplinarycomplexities involvedin problemsolving. Through this compendiousapproach,we strivetoenhanceundergraduateproductivityand promoteaculture ofinnovationintheOhioState community.

Instructor’s Bio

Dr.PhilSchlosseris a scientist, engineer,inventor,andentrepreneurwhoattendedOhio StateUniversity whereheearnedaB.Sc.degreeinEngineering PhysicswithaminorinElectricalEngineeringandM.Sc. andPh.D.degrees inNuclearEngineering.Earlyin hiscareer,Dr.Schlosserwasa professorofNuclear andMechanical Engineering atOSUwherehe taughtcourses andmanagedsponsoredresearch programs. Heholds 22U.S.and foreignpatentsforinventingvariouselectronic devices andsystems. Overthepast20years, hehas startedseveral successful electronics companiesinthecentralOhioarea.Inaddition tohis business interests,heteachesaFreshmanSeminar andseveralcourses intheFirst-YearEngineeringProgramatThe OhioState University.

CourseObjectives

This course is intended to providestudentswiththetools torefinetheircreativemotivation andto encouragemultidisciplinaryinnovation. By enablingstudentstoexploretheconcept ofcreativitythrougha variety ofspeakerexperiences,this course willfosteran appreciationfortheprocesses ofinnovative designandprototyping.Thiswill promoteanenvironment ofstudent-sustained innovationwithinThe Ohio StateUniversity.

Theseminarwillenablestudentstoidentify,articulate andcharacterize problems.Duringthecourse,they will identify one grandchallenge(NAE,2008) withintheirinterests andnarrowitdowntoa specific problem.This exercisewillfosteranappreciation forthecomplexityofreal-worldobstacles.

Beyond this, studentswillhaveanunderstandingoftheinnovationprocess,includingthedevelopment of creative,technologically-viable andeconomically-sustainablesolutions.Thisunderstandingwill be underscoredby small groupdiscussioninwhich students formulateasolutiontoachosen problem and workthroughtheinnovationprocess themselves.This hands-on learningwill aidstudentsingainingand understandingoftheworthofcreativeinnovation.

The groupdiscussionwill also providevaluableexperiencewithworking inmultidisciplinary teams andwill exposestudentstoawiderange ofexperiencesandinspirations.The solution fromthis discussionwill be presentedattheend ofthesemester,whichwill bedescribedlaterin this syllabus.

CourseFormat

Theseminarwillbe offeredfor oneS/U credithourandwill meetonceaweekfor lecture for80 minutes. Everyweek, lectures willfeature adifferentfacultymemberor industry professional presentingondifferent aspectsofinnovation,research,anddevelopment.After each presentation there will be class discussion,withemphasis oninterdisciplinarycollaborationinsmallgroups.

Thebeginningoftheseminarwillfocus onidentificationofchallenges facingsociety. Asthesemester progresses,studentswillbe grouped basedoninterest in thesechallenges,andwill betaskedwithbreaking thesechallenges downintoresearchable topics.Thefinal projectforeach recitationgroupis todevelopan eight-minutepresentationwhichdiscussestheirowninnovativeideas basedonwhatthey havelearnedthroughoutthesemester.Presentationsmayalso explore the economic barrierstotheseideas, aswellas theirrelationtoresearch beingconducted atOhio State.

Theseminarwillconclude by encouragingstudentstopursuetheirinterests,nurturetheirideas,andutilize thevastresources thatOhio Statehas tooffer.Studentpresentations will beconductedthe last week of regularly scheduled classes.

TENTATIVE Course Schedule

Week / Date / Intended Topic
1 / 1/12/2015 / Course Introduction & Grand Challenges-Dr. Schlosser
2 / 1/19/2015 / No Class (MLK Day)
3 / 1/26/2015 / Start-Ups—Dr. Schlosser
4 / 2/2/2015 / Technology Commercialization Office—Krystal Geyer
5 / 2/9/2015 / Creativity in Time and Space—Dr. Jagacinski
6 / 2/16/2015 / What is a business?—Dr. Schlosser
7 / 2/23/2015 / Gamification and Motivation—Michael Hanus
8 / 3/2/2015 / Design Outreach and Appropriate Technology—Dr. Bixler
9 / 3/9/2015 / Creativity in Engineering—Dr. Charyton
10 / 3/16/2015 / Spring Break
11 / 3/23/2015 / TechColumbus—David Bergeron
12 / 3/30/2015 / Cover My Meds—Alan Gilbert
13 / 4/6/2015 / Humanitarian Engineering—Judith Tansky
14 / 4/13/2015 / In-class work day for presentations
15 / 4/20/2015 / Group Presentations
16 / 4/27/2015 / Finals Week—No class

Grading

Thecourse willbegradedsatisfactory/unsatisfactory. Students mustcomplete all assignments and earn a total score of80%topass thecourse.

GradeBreakdown
Initial Creativity ‘Quiz’ / 5%
Weekly Journals and Feedback (12, 1.5% each) / 20%
Passions – Brainstorming & Goals / 15%
Kick-Starter Analysis / 15%
GroupPresentation (individualscore) / 30%
Final Creativity ‘Quiz’ / 15%
Total / 100%

Students shouldcommunicateanyplanned absences withtheinstructorso priorarrangements canbemade. This greatly affects group activities and arrangements.

Assignments

Because this classis free formandbasedonindividualgrowth,assignmentswillnot haveaspecific answer. Thecontentfor each assignmentwillvary based onstudents’ interestsandbegraded accordingly.

All assignments are posted on the Carmen content section and will be submitted via the Carmen dropboxor quiz tool. They will all be due before class on the date listed on the Assignment Schedule on the following page, with the one exception of the Group Presentation.

Initial and Final Creativity Quiz

Quiz to compare creative ability before and after this course

Weekly Journals and Feedback

Quizzes on Carmen each week to provide feedback on speakers and the course and to answer general questions

Passions – Brainstorming & Goals

The ability to brainstorm and set goals comes with practice. Students will need to set short-term, achievable goals that can help them further incorporate their passion into their lives.

Kick-Starter Analysis

This assignment challenges students to look at the various projects on the popular start-up website Kick-Starter to predict whether the project will be a success or a lost cause.

Group Presentations

Thesegroup presentationsshouldbesixtoeightminutes andshouldcreatively convey theworkstudents havebeen preparing throughoutthecourse and the challenge each student will take on. This is avery open-endedpresentationandisbasedoneachindividual group’s work. Groups can present on the one of the grand challenges or create a mock KickStarter project.

Assignment Schedule

Assignment / Date Assigned / Date Due
Initial Creativity ‘Quiz’ / M 1/12/15 / M 1/26/15
Weekly Journals and Feedback / Weekly after each lecture / Following Wednesday
Passions – Brainstorming & Goals / M 1/26/15 / M 2/16/15
KickStarter Analysis / M 2/16/15 / M 3/9/15
Group Presentation / M 3/9/15 / M 4/20/15 by 10:35 AM
Final Creativity ‘Quiz’ / M 4/20/15 / M 5/1/15

AcademicMisconduct

Each studentisexpectedtosubmit original material.Evidencethatany writtenorelectronic material submittedwascopiedverbatimfrom printedorelectronic sources,orwas writtenbysomeoneotherthan theindividual student orstudent teams,constitutesacademic misconduct,whichwill bereported tothe Committeeon Academic Misconductanddealtwith accordingly.

StudentswithSpecialNeeds

Students withspecial needsordisabilitiescertifiedby the OfficeforDisabilityServicesare welcomeinthe course andwillbe accommodatedappropriately.Anysuchstudentshouldcontacttheinstructoras soon as possibleto discuss alternativemethods forpreparingthewrittenassignmentsand participatinginthe classroom.