Abstract
One of the challenges facing engineering faculties is the matter of embedding creativity and innovation into undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Creativity is perceived to be the domain of the arts, and the general understanding of innovation is any change. In industrialised society people expect originality, ingenuity and novelty from new or improved products processes and systems, and these factors are the basis of creativity. It follows that since most of products, processes and systems in industrialised society are based on engineering and associated technology, it is imperative that these values are an integral part of engineering education, and that innovation, which is the commercialisation of creative design, is also taught as a fundamental element in the education of an engineer. Having spent fifteen years as a professor in a Faculty of Art and Design and subsequently transferred to a Faculty of Engineering, the author has developed a well tried and tested system for embedding creativity and innovation in engineering courses, and this paper provides insight into the system and its success.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Processings of the SEFI Annual Conference, Alborg, Denmark, 30 June - 3 July 2008 |
Volume | 2008 |
Publication status | Published - 2 Jul 2008 |
Keywords
- engineering
- creativity
- innovation
- education
- industry