Proposed measures for invention gain in engineering design

Based on the phenomenon that invention manifests itself as at least one added or removed or altered system parameter with respect to previous generations of the system type, and that this parameter implies a positive differential value contribution with respect to the latter, a quantified method for the measurement of invention gain in design is proposed. Two types of assessment, one current and the other retrospective, are proposed. The current assessment approach is useful when choices between design concepts have to be made or when the creativity of a number of competing design teams needs to be rated, while the retrospective assessment approach produces invention gain histories for particular system types. Application of the two methods is demonstrated by means of a Mini Baja off-road racer design and the historic growth of aircraft useful load, respectively.

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