Creativity enhancement in a product development course through entrepreneurship learning and intellectual property awareness

Abstract

Product development is the set of activities starting with the perception of a market need and ending in the production and sale of a new product satisfying that need. Broadly speaking, it is a process that should follow a structured methodology, if a certain level of effectiveness and efficacy is envisaged. In the Portuguese industrial environment, there is, in general, a weak perception of this methodology. Even when this perception exists, it is hardly integrated with the company's culture and related processes. In university engineering degrees curricula, there is very little integration of interdisciplinary knowledge that leads to a global understanding of what engineering and product development integrated with entrepreneurship issues should be. This work presents an integrative approach to bridge this gap between industry and university by the teaching of a course on product development and entrepreneurship, at a graduate level. Special attention is given to innovation and creative thinking during concept development, through the introduction of a structured method to promote it, and to the appeal of intellectual property rights to motivate innovative thinking among students. Teaching product development integrated in an entrepreneurship framework promotes students skills in what it takes to start a new business and makes them feel comfortable in executing the idea-to-product viability evaluation in a business perspective.

Keywords:

• product development
• innovation
• design teaching
• entrepreneurship
• intellectual property rights