Innovation
There are a lot of ways to create innovation. If you're unfamiliar, I recommend starting with the Innovator's DNA (https://hbr.org/2009/12/the-innovators-dna) to create a team that will lead to disruptive innovation. These 5 skills, as all others, can be practiced and honed.
1: Associating | 2: Questioning | 3: Observing | 4: Experimenting | 5: Networking
The engineering process needs to have enough flexibility to support innovation. Organizations struggle when they're too rigid. Some innovation can be incremental. Some innovation can be extremely wild. The valuable innovation is when it helps achieve success though, as defined by whatever metric or measure is considered valuable. If you want innovation to be a part of your process or outcome, you'll need to appreciate the outcome enough to invest in it. Risks are involved. Failure is involved.
How do I do it? Remove limits, reverse conditions, and write science fiction. All while being comfortable and having fun. Feel free to use this as a guide...
Jordan's Innovation Process
Base Knowledge - Learn about everything. From an egineering viewpoint, process, properties, interactions, and dependencies are all useful bits of info for figuring out why things are the way they are.
Idea Bucket - This is the graveyard of ideas, some bad, some good, some just weird. From an engineering viewpoint, this is a bucket of system of systems components. If you had a bucket of blocks, what could you build?
Problem Towers - This is the stuff that is annoying, slow, expensive, or broken. Some problems are fundamental and if you can solve the big ones, little ones go away too.
Stir that pot. What do you want to learn, ideate about, or solve?
Problem(s): I'm tired of taking showers. Utility bills are on the rise. Water is never the perfect temperature. Camping showers are awful. My skin is never happy with me. Soaps are getting ridiculous. Shower technology hasn't really changed in a long time. If water is unclean, so can be the washing.
Can I create a new shower?
What could it look like?
Idea Bucket: I like to start with Association... I think Tank Girl's sand shower is intriguing. Would sand get caught in your crevices though? I'd hate the beach feel to be the normal feel. Star Trek showers seem impractical even with artificial gravity considering the serous concerns with limited water. Baby wipes work pretty good for camping, but it seems wasteful and surface level clean.
Then roll into Questioning... What if we didn't use water for showers? What if we could remove dirt and oil other ways? What if it was a handheld vacuum like thing? What if it was safe for the orifices of the human body? What if it wasn't toxic? What if it was reusable? What if it could run on a battery? What if it helped with ingrown hairs, acne, sun burns, or open wounds?
For Observing, it probably won't work out for me to go watch a lot of people take showers. My multiple decades of experience should be enough here, but I've even taken lake baths so maybe I'm unusual.
For Experimenting, I really want to build this.
For Networking, I have a few friends in the medical and outdoors fields that would have some good ideas and insight.
Base Knowledge(s): Plumbing, Ozone, Paint Stripping, Lithium batteries, Skin/hair hygiene.
Sand Blasting does pretty good at removing things on a surface. - TCP Global Brand Air Sand Blasting Gun with Sand Recovery System (Includes Abrasive) https://a.co/d/dnoxQoO
Ozone is great at sterilizing and breaking down odors (like in clothing or cars) - Enerzen Ozone Generator 11,000mg Industrial O3 Air Purifier Deodorizer (11,000mg - Black) https://a.co/d/bvCAZb4
Silica Gel Desiccant can be nice to the skin while absorbing - wisedry [ 1.2 LBS ] Silica Gel Desiccant Beads Bulk with Color Indicating, Bead Size 2-4 mm, Rechargeable(Bule to Pink) https://a.co/d/aZJqz57
UV light has excellent sanitization and breaking down things capabilities -- VANELC UV Light Sanitizer Wand, Portable UVC Travel Wand Ultraviolet Disinfection lamp Without Chemicals for Hotel Household Wardrobe Toilet Car Pet Area, Germ Killing Function https://a.co/d/5DuNept
Technology is definitely heading in a supported direction.
Can I build a sand (silica gel) blasting shower with ozone and ultraviolet light sanitizing nozzle? It was innovated here in 2022. Will it ever get approved for human use? Not my problem. I just innovated it. Except, the components listed are pretty affordable. Maybe I can prototype this out for less than $500 in parts. Maybe I can sell them for $1000. Maybe a cheaper model could be made for under $50. Maybe they could work for a million showers. Maybe they could be provided to 3rd world countries to help hygiene efforts across the globe. I just really wanted to be able to go camping for more than a week and not feel gross but maybe a billion people can have a longer life expectancy... all because of Tank Girl taking a science fiction shower.
Tie this back into an engineering lifecycle. What power does the best for sandblasting skin? What size of beads work the best? How much Ozone is a good amount? How much creates too much respiratory discomfort? What frequency and leven of UV light is required? Does it work well? How quiet? How heavy?
If you would like to receive some innovation coaching or include me in a project, feel free to reach out.
~jordan