Course Description

What does make working in a team an exciting process? Just imagine... You, your colleague or boss is opening the office’s door in the morning and almost shouting:

And you are starting together to do the magic: share, enjoy and admire new thoughts, new design, out of box solutions or another sparkling creativity artefact that may greatly change your product, project or technology.

The course consists of the number of components that helps you to know the secret of inventiveness:


The course presents a conceptual design context and its tools:

  • Quality Function Deployment
  • Decision-making tools, etc 

It reviews modern design tools: 

  • Axiomatic Design Design For X (Manufacturing, Robustness, Assembly, Environment, etc)
  • TRIZ (Ideal Final Result, Contradictions, Trends of Engineering System Evolution). 

You will learn how to model an engineering system or product by Function framework and perform: 

  • Function Model analysis transformation
  • Trimming (system reduction)
  • Function-Oriented search



Keep in touch with the community of creative people via Facebook


Creativity Lab

The course is created by the Systems Engineering Laboratory in Lappeenranta University of Technology. The main content teacher and instructor is Professor of Industrial Engineering and Management Leonid Chechurin. The course designer is Doctoral student Iuliia ShnaiSpecial course contributors are: Post-Doctoral researcher with specialization in Business analytic  Mariia Kozlova Patent team: Doctoral students Juhani Talvela and Samira Ranaei

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Course info

    • Intro video about platform use

    • Course design

    • Introduce yourself *

    • Join Facebook group*

    • FAQ
  • 2

    1. Creativity, Innovation and Invention, Thinking inertia

    • 1.1 Brain teaser **

    • 1.2 Watch "What is inventing and how it differs from optimization?" *

    • 1.3 Optimization and invention? **

    • 1.4 Watch and discuss"Why it is hard to generate new ideas?"

    • 1.5 Do you have thinking inertia? Book and worm brain teaser **

    • !!!BONUS TRACK!!! 24h only

    • Introduce your topic here **

    • FAQ
  • 3

    2. Patents, Patents search, Intellectual property

    • 2.1 Patent intro and exercise **

    • 2.2 Patents of famous people **

    • 2.3 Project work Patent for your system ***

    • FAQ
  • 4

    3. Function definition

    • 3.1 Intro to Function

    • 3.2 Function Definition formulation examples

    • 3.3 Discuss "Function of Microphone" **

    • 3.4 Discuss "Function of drill" **

    • 3.5 Define function within TRIZ **

    • 3.6 Quiz "Function"

    • 3.7 Project work Functions of your system ***

    • FAQ
  • 5

    4. Function oriented search (FOS)

    • 4.1 Function Oriented Search INTRO

    • 4.2 FOS "Cleaning of circuits" EXAMPLE

    • 4.3 FOS "Bubbles elimination" EXAMPLE

    • 4.4 FOS "Locker" EXAMPLE

    • 4.5 FOS Case Study **

    • 4.6 Project work FOS for your system ***

    • FAQ
  • 6

    5. Biomimetics intro

    • 5.1 Video Biomimetic tour *

    • 5.2 Project work Biomimetics for your system***

    • BONUS TRACK 24 h **

    • FAQ
  • 7

    6. Ideal Final Result

    • 6.1 Preparation Video

    • 6.2 Ideality real cases. Spacecraft rocket, Leonardo da Vinci, Rotation rate

    • 6.3 Quiz 1. Test **

    • 6.4 Quiz 2 and discussion **

    • 6.5 Discussion IFR formulation**

    • 6.6 Project work for IFR ***

    • FAQ
  • 8

    Midterm report

    • Attach your midterm report ***

    • FAQ
  • 9

    7. Function Modelling and Trimming

    • 7.1 Watch preparation video

    • 7.2 Case study on FM and Trimming

    • 7.3 Quiz**

    • 7.4 Discuss trimming weaknesses **

    • 7.5 Project work for your system ***

    • 🔥 BONUS TRACK 🔥

    • FAQ
  • 10

    8. Contradiction

    • 8.1 Watch preparation Video

    • 8.2 Examples

    • 8.3 Quiz**

    • 8.4 Formulate contradictions for umbrella **

    • 8.5 Formulate contradiction for needle **

    • 8.6 Project work for your system ***

    • FAQ
  • 11

    9. Cause-Effect Chain Analysis

    • 9.1 Watch preparation Video

    • 9.2 Quiz **

    • 9.3 Hands on work **

    • 9.4 Project work CECA for your system ***

    • FAQ
  • 12

    10. TESE

    • 10.1 Watch preparation Video

    • 10.2 Summary

    • 10.3 Examples

    • 10.4 Define the Trend for phone**

    • 10.5 Define the Trend for website **

    • 10.6 Define all the Trends **

    • 10.7 Name one example for each TREND **

    • 10.8 Project work for your system ***

    • FAQ
  • 13

    11. Axiomatic Design

    • 11.1 Watch preparation video

    • 11.2 Quiz **

    • 11.3 Design surgical table **

    • 11.4 Project work for your system***

    • FAQ
  • 14

    12. Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA)

    • 12.1 Watch preparation video

    • 12.2 Quiz **

    • 12.3 Hands on work **

    • 12.4 Discussion "DFMA weaknesses" **

    • 12.5 Project work DFMA for your system ***

    • 🔥BONUS TRACK🔥

    • FAQ
  • 15

    Final project work

    • Final project***

    • Example of report

    • FAQ
  • 16

    Conclusion

    • Real problems from companies

    • Comments about the course

    • Brain Teaser from you for your peers

    • Final survey