• Question: how do you come up with ideas?

    Asked by jordanrory to Amit, Emily, Joanne, Martin, Paige on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Martin Wallace

      Martin Wallace answered on 15 Mar 2012:

      To come up with creative ideas, you first need a problem to solve. All of inventions have been the result of someone wondering if something can be done, or trying to find a way to do something better than before.
      At my work, often we start a project with an ideas session where we all know what the problem is, and all provide suggestions of how the problem can be solved. Often no-one has the best solution, but by combining them all and sharing ideas and talking about how things can be improved, we’re able to develop some really innovative concepts.
      Just coming up with ideas on your own can be very hard, but if you talk about it with other people, often you come up with designs that none of you would ever had thought of on your own.

    • Photo: Emily Bullen

      Emily Bullen answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      I agree with Martin, most of the time ideas don’t just happen.
      A lot of ideas are worked up to gradually, you do something and think of a way to improve it a bit, do that again, etc…
      There are also completely new, random ideas, and they can happen at any point, and prompted by anything! Some people are better than others at “thinking outside the box” and coming up with new things.

    • Photo: Paige Brown

      Paige Brown answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Hi Jordanrory! I often come up with ideas late at night reading articles about new science and engineering breakthroughs. I have have to keep a pen and paper close by to jot down ideas! Also, ideas often come as you are talking to other engineers and Scientists. I am lucky to have a boyfriend who is also an engineer like me… we always bounce ideas off each other, and often come up with new project ideas together! Its great… forget computers, collaboration and putting heads together is still one of the best ways to solve a complex problem.

    • Photo: Joanne Davies

      Joanne Davies answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Hello jordanrory 🙂 Good to see you here.

      A lot of ideas come from nature (biomimicry) like Velcro.

      Design teams come up with ideas using idea generation techniques such as brainstorming sessions.

      Most ideas happen from other ideas though. By trasnferring one idea from one product to something completely different. For example, water indicator levels were put on irons, before they were adapted to kettles.

    • Photo: Amit Pujari

      Amit Pujari answered on 17 Mar 2012:

      Hi jordanory,

      Sorry for the late reply.

      Being creative or coming up with the new (and useful) ideas is one of the most difficult but important part of engineer and scientist’s work.

      As Albert Einstein famously quoted ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge’.

      An idea can strike you when you are discussing with somebody about your work/project and the person says something you never thought before………..

      An idea could come to you by brain-storming……….

      An idea could pop in your mind by sheer chance an eureka moment

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