1. INNOVATIONS IN ENGINEERING
Create Value Through Innovation
or
You Will Go Away
Dr. Eric Balles
Draper Laboratory
October 21, 2011

2. Top Ten Innovation “Facts”
Understanding these will help with success
10. A patent does not an innovation make
9. 90% of new products fail in the market each year –
none because of technology
8. Innovation does not have to be based on new technology
7. Innovation takes a team
6. Innovation requires the generation of real value
5. Value is determined by the end user
4. The competition is always better than you think
3. Companies lose their innovation ability with age and size
2. VC’s don’t take risks
1. Innovation takes commitment and dedication
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3. Moore’s Law
Performance doubles every 18 months
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4. A Knowledge Age Trend
Increasing numbers of activities are improving at exponential rates, including activities of the “bad guys”
 Music
Computing  Portable power
Power  IEDs
 Drug development
 Energy
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5. What is Innovation?
Often Confused Terms
 Creativity: Something original &
imaginative
 Invention: Something novel reduced to
practice
 Innovation: Creation and delivery of
sustainable new customer value put into
use
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6. The Fundamental Role of Innovation
The creation of value for different stakeholders
 Security
 Health Care
 Energy / Environment
 Education
It is needed to address the worldwide issues for
peace, prosperity, and the quality of life.
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7. Cross Disciplinary Technology Drivers
Many of the most important new opportunities are interdisciplinary
Geospatial
Tech
Info-Tech Nano-Tech
Bio-Tech
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8. High Value Innovation
Invention needs the customer to be innovative
When ideas lead to products that address un-met
end-user needs
Technology Push
Invention Innovation Customer
Customer Pull
Not technology push
Not customer pull
But an interactive process of the two
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9. Collect Ideas
It must be a team effort; throw away your ego!
Listen to others and iterate –
This is the foundation for
INNOVATION!
Build upon each other’s ideas;
Throw your ego away!!
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10. In Summary
Create value at an exponential pace
 Know your customers’ important needs
Customer Competition/
 Know the competition Needs Alternatives
 Iterate for the best solution
 Create compelling value
 Remember, its exponential
Beneficial
Solutions
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