Systematic Innovation

This paper aims to outline the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) and the broader concept of ‘systematic innovation ’ in an attempt to fuel discussion over the need and form that the teaching of creative problem solving should take in engineering curricula. The recent emergence of the approach in the West has created much interest with industry and a growing awareness in academia. All three UK universities represented in this paper have introduced TRIZ to their engineering curricula to some extent and give an account of their experiences. Although TRIZ originated in mechanical engineering the paper demonstrates the underlying principles are more broadly applicable and are closely related to another approach, namely, the Theory of Constraints. The positioning of the approach relative to other design tools is an active research area and the opportunity to integrate the approach is discussed.