Hybridization of TRIZ and CAD-analysis at the conceptual design stage

The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is a well-known effective methodology to solve the complex problem solving. This paper presents a hybridized TRIZ with CAD-Design analysis through an effective modelling. This modelling helps in solving critical problems for satellite loader parts at the conceptual design stage. The process is applied for critical components in the motorized adjustable vertical platform and proposes a systematic and creative method in the conceptual design process. CAD models for a scissor lifting of motorised satellite platform has been design in the CATIA software and analysed using the ABAQUS to analyse the structure and find the problems of the design, and next optimized using TRIZ inventive tools. The implication of this case study enables optimization of the part in an inventive and effective way

Critical Thinking to Creative Problem-Solving in Engineering and Management

Organizations advance and grow by solving problems one at a time, and management graduates should possess critical thinking and problem-solving capacities to be effective business managers and creative engineers. The problem was that critical thinking and creative problem solving are operationally ill-defined in engineering and management education. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to discover how, if at all, the engineering and management scholar-practitioner community in British Columbia, Canada, perceives the concepts of critical thinking and creative problem-solving. A three-prong critical thinking conceptual framework was used as template for defining and relating the two key concepts of the study. Research questions asked about operational definitions of critical thinking and creative problem solving and any relationships between them. Data were collected by interviewing eleven participants, with experience as educators and practitioners, and thematized into concepts for developing a theory that describes the perceived meanings of critical thinking and its relation to problem-solving. Findings included that employer’s expectations can be better met through critical thinking employees’ contributions to find the right problems and solve, or manage, them effectively. Finally, it was illustrated that positive social change ensued from improving the critical thinking and problem-solving capacity of graduates, as they support to their organizations in delivering products and services of value to elevate the living standards of society at large