1 TRIZ and INVENTION MACHINE®: METHODS and SYSTEMS for CREATIVE ENGINEERING and EDUCATION In the 21st CENTURY

The Russian initiated Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) and it’s computer implementation in the Invention Machine ‘TechOptimizer ’ software have penetrated deeply into the development departments of leading, innovative organisations and educational establishments. Both method and software may be exploited by engineers and scientists during the formulation and solution of technically innovative problems across a truly generic spectrum of technical products, systems and processes. TRIZ contains many tools and techniques. Problem formulation (Functional Analysis) and Problem solving (ARIZ, Scientific Effects, Contradictions, Trends of Evolution, etc) tools of TRIZ and the TechOptimizer Computer Aided Innovation tool are thus discussed through use of a case study example from the field of heat exchanger design. The paper demonstrates how TRIZ was used successfully to break out of existing heat exchanger conceptual paradigms to produce a novel design solution. The TRIZ work on heat exchangers also raises a number of points regarding how the method may best be taught and used within the education system. A final section in the paper discusses such points in the context of emerging education process paradigms for the next century