Management of «Systematic Innovation»: A kind of quest for the Holy Grail!

In this paper, authors propose a contribution for improving the open innovation processes. It shows the necessity to get an efficient methodology for open innovation in order to build a computer aided tool for inventive design in Process Systems Engineering (PSE). The proposed methodology will be evocated to be fully used in the context of the “revolutionary” concepts around the so-called factory for the future, also called integrated digital factory, innovative factory… As a result the main contribution of this paper is to propose a software prototype for an Open Computer Aided Innovation 2.0. By definition this open innovation relies on collaboration. This collaboration should enable a community, with a very broad spectrum of skills, to share data, information, knowledge and ideas. As a consequence, a first sub objective is to create a methodological framework that takes advantages of collaboration and collective intelligence (with its capacity to join intelligence and knowledge). Furthermore, the raise of the digital company and more particularly the breakthroughs in information technologies is a powerful enabler to extend and improve the potential of collective intelligence. The second sub objective is to propose a problem resolution process to impel creativity of expert but also to develop, validate and select innovative solutions. After dealing with the importance of Process Innovation and Problem solving investigation in PSE, the proposed approach originally based on an extension of the TRIZ theory (Russian acronym for Theory of Inventive Problem Solving), has been improved by using approach such as case-based reasoning, in order to tackle and revisit problems encountered in the PSE. A case study on biomass is used to illustrate the capabilities of the methodology and the tool

Patent Data for Engineering Design: A Critical Review and Future Directions

Patent data have long been used for engineering design research because of its large and expanding size, and widely varying massive amount of design information contained in patents. Recent advances in artificial intelligence and data science present unprecedented opportunities to develop data-driven design methods and tools, as well as advance design science, using the patent database. Herein, we survey and categorize the patent-for-design literature based on its contributions to design theories, methods, tools, and strategies, as well as the types of patent data and data-driven methods used in respective studies. Our review highlights promising future research directions in patent data-driven design research and practice.Comment: Accepted by JCIS

Design-by-analogy: experimental evaluation of a functional analogy search methodology for concept generation improvement

Design-by-analogy is a growing field of study and practice, due to its power to augment and extend traditional concept generation methods by expanding the set of generated ideas using similarity relationships from solutions to analogous problems. This paper presents the results of experimentally testing a new method for extracting functional analogies from general data sources, such as patent databases, to assist designers in systematically seeking and identifying analogies. In summary, the approach produces significantly improved results on the novelty of solutions generated and no significant change in the total quantity of solutions generated. Computationally, this design-by-analogy facilitation methodology uses a novel functional vector space representation to quantify the functional similarity between represented design problems and, in this case, patent descriptions of products. The mapping of the patents into the functional analogous words enables the generation of functionally relevant novel ideas that can be customized in various ways. Overall, this approach provides functionally relevant novel sources of design-by-analogy inspiration to designers and design teams.SUTD-MIT International Design Centre (IDC)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant Numbers CMMI-0855326, CMMI-0855510, and CMMI-08552930

Facilitating Design-by-Analogy: Development of a Complete Functional Vocabulary and Functional Vector Approach to Analogical Search

Design-by-analogy is an effective approach to innovative concept generation, but can be elusive at times due to the fact that few methods and tools exist to assist designers in systematically seeking and identifying analogies from general data sources, databases, or repositories, such as patent databases. A new method for extracting analogies from data sources has been developed to provide this capability. Building on past research, we utilize a functional vector space model to quantify analogous similarity between a design problem and the data source of potential analogies. We quantitatively evaluate the functional similarity between represented design problems and, in this case, patent descriptions of products. We develop a complete functional vocabulary to map the patent database to applicable functionally critical terms, using document parsing algorithms to reduce text descriptions of the data sources down to the key functions, and applying Zipf’s law on word count order reduction to reduce the words within the documents. The reduction of a document (in this case a patent) into functional analogous words enables the matching to novel ideas that are functionally similar, which can be customized in various ways. This approach thereby provides relevant sources of design-by-analogy inspiration. Although our implementation of the technique focuses on functional descriptions of patents and the mapping of these functions to those of the design problem, resulting in a set of analogies, we believe that this technique is applicable to other analogy data sources as well. As a verification of the approach, an original design problem for an automated window washer illustrates the distance range of analogical solutions that can be extracted, extending from very near-field, literal solutions to far-field cross-domain analogies. Finally, a comparison with a current patent search tool is performed to draw a contrast to the status quo and evaluate the effectiveness of this work.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number CMMI-0855510)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number CMMI-0855326)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (grant number CMMI-0855293)SUTD-MIT International Design Centre (IDC

The combination of the disciplines of Techmining and semantic TRIZ for better and faster analyzing technology evolution

Tesis por compendioThe purpose of the present thesis is to explore and to demonstrate how the combination of two methodological approaches, text mining plus the systemic vision of TRIZ empowered by semantics, can bring a larger and more comprehensive analysis of the evolution of a technology. Both approaches had been not combined before the first of the four papers constituents of the present thesis based in a compendium of publications. However, this combination applied to the evolution of technologies is increasingly being published in the scientific literature. Such combination shows a second benefit in the form of an improvement in accessing and connecting knowledge from disparate scientific literatures in a systematic manner. The common element in all these papers is the use of the technology mining approach, 'techmining', the application of text mining techniques based on technology management knowledge, combined with the use of semantic TRIZ, the advantage of syntactic applied to the systemic vision of TRIZ. These papers show that a better analysis of evolving technologies, e.g. by profiling technologies from a systemic point of view or, a better access to knowledge, e.g. by semantically connecting concepts with meaning, can be achieved. The research on applying the combination of these approaches to scientific and technological information analysis explores the advantages and new possibilities for technology trends assessment as well as the semantic connection of concepts which represents a change in the way information research can be done. The different applications of the aforementioned combination are explored by means of the here presented articles. The structure followed in this research is the collection of three papers published in international academic journals indexed in the most prestigious databases and one chapter in a proceedings book of an international congress. The attached articles show the research undertaken to demonstrate the aforementioned benefits of the proposed combination. Despite it can be found many methods and approaches about the assessment of the evolution of technologies, distributed across the literature, there is still a need to better understand which technologies may emerge, which may evolve faster and at what pace can they reach the market. The combination of the techmining approach and the semantic TRIZ approaches allows understanding the trends enriched with a systemic vision of the links, functions, and influences of constituent and enabling elements of a technology. Such systemic link of elements with its components and ecosystem also allows for a multi-dimensional view of a technology and further reduces the uncertainty to preview the progress of a technology. The papers presented in this dissertation are based on the combination of the TRIZ methodology, the techmining approach and the semantic TRIZ approach, applied to different technologies in different domains, to proof the advantages and implications of the combination. The articles try the different interactions of the combined approaches, applied to the assessment of different technologies, such as lithium batteries for the electric car, a medical case linked to a disease known as Meniére's Disease, the prognosis of prostate cancer, and the usage of probiotics as substitutes of antibiotics in the animal health. The wide range of technologies was selected to show the clear benefits of either combining the two approaches or applying predominantly one of them in the case of the Meniére's disease article. That difference in the nature of technologies also helped to better understand the systemic point of view of the technology, exploring new applications based on the general system theory from Bertalanffy as well as other related approaches about technologies.El propósito de la presente tesis es la exploración y la demostración de la combinación de dos enfoques metodológicos, la minería de textos y la visión sistémica de TRIZ reforzada con la semántica, pueden aportar un mayor y mas exhaustivo análisis de la evolución de una tecnología. Ambos enfoques no habían sido combinados antes del primero de los cuatro artículos que representan esta tesis por compendio de publicaciones, aunque dicha combinación ha sido crecientemente publicada en la literatura científica, para multiples propósitos desde entonces. Un segundo aporte proporcionado por esta combinación es la mejora de la capacidad de acceso al conocimiento y cómo ello supone un avance para el descubrimiento a través de literaturas no relacionadas "disparate literature discovery" de una forma metódica y científica. El elemento común en los artículos aquí presentados es el aprovechamiento de techmining, esto es, la minería de textos con base en la gestión tecnológica, por ejemplo mediante el perfilado de tecnologías, junto al enfoque de la metodología TRIZ potenciada por el análisis sintáctico y semántico, esto es, mediante la conexión semántica de conceptos, para un análisis más completo de la evolución tecnológica, proporcionando al mismo tiempo un acceso más racional al conocimiento. La investigación sobre la aplicación de la citada combinación al análisis de información científica y tecnológica explora las ventajas y nuevas posibilidades en la evaluación del avance de la tecnología, así como la conexión semántica de conceptos que representa nuevas posibilidades en la forma en que la investigación textual puede hacerse. La estructura de la investigación aquí presentada se muestra a través de los artículos publicados en revistas internacionales de alto impacto y el capítulo de los 'proceedings' de un congreso internacional. Dichos artículos muestran la investigación llevada a cabo para demostrar los beneficios mencionados de la combinación propuesta. A pesar de la gran actividad de investigación y de la existencia de varios enfoques para la prospectiva y la previsión tecnológica presentes en la literatura científica, existe aún la necesidad de entender qué tecnologías pueden emerger, pueden evolucionar más rápido y a qué velocidad pueden llegar al mercado. La combinación de los enfoques de minería tecnológica o techmining y TRIZ semántico permite entender las tendencias de una tecnología dada, enriquecida con una visión de su sistémica, y teniendo en cuenta las conexiones de sus elementos y las influencias de sus elementos constituyentes. Tal conexión entre los components y su entorno permite una vision multidimensional de la tecnología reduciendo más aún la incertidumbre en la previsión de la evolución de una tecnología. Los artículos presentados en esta tesis son aplicaciones y exploraciones de la combinación de mencionada, a diferentes tecnologías de diversos ámbitos muy dispares entre sí, con el fin de demostrar sus ventajas e implicaciones. Los artículos tratan las diferentes interacciones entre ambos enfoques de trabajo, aplicados a tecnologías como baterías de litio para los vehículos eléctricos, un caso médico ligado a una dolencia como el síndrome de Méniere, a la prognosis del cáncer de próstata y al uso de probióticos en la alimentación animal como sustitución de los antibióticos. Este amplio rango de tecnologías han sido seleccionados para mostrar las ventajas, de forma más objetiva, de la combinación de ambos enfoques o con predominancia de alguno en particular, como es el caso del artículo explorando el síndrome de Méniere. Estas exploraciones permiten también entender mejor el punto de vista sistémico de una tecnología, descubriendo nuevas aplicaciones basadas en la teoría general de sistemas de Bertalanffy así como en otros enfoques relacionados.El propòsit de la present tesi és l'exploració i la demostració de la combinació de dos enfocaments metodològics, la minería de textes i la visió sistémica de TRIZ, reforçada amb la sintáctica i la semántica, mostrant que poden oferir un abast més gran i més holístic en l'enteniment de l'evolució d'una tecnología. Tots dos enfocaments no habían estat combinats abans del primer article dels quatre que composen aquesta tesi, però creixentment combinat dins la literatura científica per a múltiples propostes des de la primera publicació. Una segona aportació proporcionada per aquesta combinació és la millora de la capacitat d'accés al coneixement, i de com això suposa un avanç en l'àrea de recerca a traves de literatures no relacionades "disparate literature discovery" d'una forma metòdica i científica. L'element comú en els articles presentats en aquesta tesi és l'aprofitament de la mineria de textos amb base en la gestió tecnològica, 'techmining', per exemple mitjançant el perfilat de tecnologies, al costat de l'enfocament de la metodologia TRIZ potenciada per l'anàlisi sintàctica i semàntica, mitjançant la conexión semántica de conceptes, per assolir un anàlisi més complet de l'evolució tecnològica, així com per a garantir un accés més racional al coneixement. La investigació de l'aplicació de la combinació dels dos enfocaments a l'anàlisi d'informació científica i tecnològica realizat, exploren els avantatges i noves possibilitats en l'avaluació de l'avanç de tecnologies, així com la conexión de conceptes uqe representa noves possibilitats en la forma en què la investigació textual pot fer-se. L'estructura de la investigació ací presentada es mostra a través dels articles publicats i el capítol dels 'proceedings' d'un congrés internacional. Aquests articles mostren la investigació duta a terme per demostrar els beneficis esmentats. Tot i la gran activitat de recerca i enfocaments per a la prospectiva i la previsió tecnològica existents a la literatura científica, existeix encara la necessitat d'entendre quines tecnologies poden emergir, poden evolucionar més ràpid i a quina velocitat poden arribar al mercat. La combinació dels enfocaments de mineria tecnològica o 'techmining' i TRIZ semàntic permet entendre les tendències d'una tecnologia donada, amb una visió del seu sistema, les connexions dels seus elements i les influències dels elements constituents. Els articles presentats en aquesta tesi són aplicacions i exploracions de la combinació de la metodologia TRIZ, la seva potenciació mitjançant la semàntica i el techmining a diferents tecnologies de diversos àmbits, alguns molt dispars entre si, per tal de demostrar les seves avantatges i implicacions. Els articles tracten les diferents interaccions entre els dos enfocaments de treball, aplicats a tecnologies com bateries de liti per als vehicles elèctrics, un cas mèdic lligat a una malaltia com la síndrome de Ménière, a la prognosi del càncer de pròstata i en alimentació, a l'ús de probiòtics en l'alimentació animal com a substitució dels antibiòtics. Aquest ampli rang de tecnologies han estat seleccionats per mostrar els avantatges de forma més objectiva, de la combinació de tots dos enfocaments o amb predominança d'algun en particular, com és el cas de l'article explorant la síndrome de Ménière. Aquestes exploracions permeten també entendre millor el punt de vista sistèmic d'una tecnologia, descobrint noves aplicacions amb base en la teoria general de sistemes de Bertalanffy així com altres treballs relacionats.Vicente Gomila, JM. (2017). The combination of the disciplines of Techmining and semantic TRIZ for better and faster analyzing technology evolution [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/89088TESISCompendi

Internet search techniques: using word count, links and directory structure as internet search tools

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ofthe University of LutonAs the Web grows in size it becomes increasingly important that ways are developed to maximise the efficiency of the search process and index its contents with minimal human intervention. An evaluation is undertaken of current popular search engines which use a centralised index approach. Using a number of search terms and metrics that measure similarity between sets of results, it was found that there is very little commonality between the outcome of the same search performed using different search engines. A semi-automated system for searching the web is presented, the Internet Search Agent (ISA), this employs a method for indexing based upon the idea of "fingerprint types". These fingerprint types are based upon the text and links contained in the web pages being indexed. Three examples of fingerprint type are developed, the first concentrating upon the textual content of the indexed files, the other two augment this with the use of links to and from these files. By looking at the results returned as a search progresses in terms of numbers and measures of content of results for effort expended, comparisons can be made between the three fingerprint types. The ISA model allows the searcher to be presented with results in context and potentially allows for distributed searching to be implemented

The analysis and presentation of patents to support engineering design

This paper explores the role of patents in engineering design, and how the extraction and presentation of patent data could be improved for designers. We propose the use of crowdsourcing as a means to post tasks online for a crowd of people to participate and complete. The is-sues of assessment, searching, clustering and knowledge transfer are evaluated with respect to the literature. Opportunities for potential crowd intervention are then discussed, before the presentation of two initial studies. These related to the categorization and interpretation of patents respectively using an online platform. The initial results establish basic crowd capabilities in understanding patent text and interpreting patent drawings. This has shown that reasonable results can be achieved if tasks of appropriate duration and complexity are set, and if test questions are incorporated to ensure a basic level of understanding exists in the workers

Data science for engineering design: State of the art and future directions

Abstract Engineering design (ED) is the process of solving technical problems within requirements and constraints to create new artifacts. Data science (DS) is the inter-disciplinary field that uses computational systems to extract knowledge from structured and unstructured data. The synergies between these two fields have a long story and throughout the past decades, ED has increasingly benefited from an integration with DS. We present a literature review at the intersection between ED and DS, identifying the tools, algorithms and data sources that show the most potential in contributing to ED, and identifying a set of challenges that future data scientists and designers should tackle, to maximize the potential of DS in supporting effective and efficient designs. A rigorous scoping review approach has been supported by Natural Language Processing techniques, in order to offer a review of research across two fuzzy-confining disciplines. The paper identifies challenges related to the two fields of research and to their interfaces. The main gaps in the literature revolve around the adaptation of computational techniques to be applied in the peculiar context of design, the identification of data sources to boost design research and a proper featurization of this data. The challenges have been classified considering their impacts on ED phases and applicability of DS methods, giving a map for future research across the fields. The scoping review shows that to fully take advantage of DS tools there must be an increase in the collaboration between design practitioners and researchers in order to open new data driven opportunities

A framework to maximise the communicative power of knowledge visualisations

Knowledge visualisation, in the field of information systems, is both a process and a product, informed by the closely aligned fields of information visualisation and knowledg management. Knowledge visualisation has untapped potential within the purview of knowledge communication. Even so, knowledge visualisations are infrequently deployed due to a lack of evidence-based guidance. To improve this situation, we carried out a systematic literature review to derive a number of “lenses” that can be used to reveal the essential perspectives to feed into the visualisation production process.We propose a conceptual framework which incorporates these lenses to guide producers of knowledge visualisations. This framework uses the different lenses to reveal critical perspectives that need to be considered during the design process. We conclude by demonstrating how this framework could be used to produce an effective knowledge visualisation