Invention patterns.

I Find Karma (adam@cs.caltech.edu)
Mon, 1 Jul 96 11:07:31 PDT

SOFTWARE THAT INVENTS by Dr.
Valery Tsourikov of Invention Machine Corp. The methodology behind
this software was initially worked out by Genrich Altshuller, as a
patent examiner in the USSR in the 40's. He looked at ~ 2 million
patents (essentially, the raw data) and found some basic patterns in
the inventive process. From this arose the Theory of Inventive Problem
Solving or TIPS (TRIZ in Russian). Dr. Tsourikov has applied his
knowledge of AI systems to make this complex methodology more
accessible. Apparently, he has been successful; in February, Motorola
signed a $2 million contract to supply this software to more than 1000
of thier engineers!

1. Invention Machine Home Page http://www.invention-machine.com

2. Description of TRIZ from Glenn Mazur, a lecturer at the U. of Mich.
http:www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~gmazur/triz

3. Course Description of ME class on TRIZ at Wayne State U.
http://www.eng.wayne.edu/me450.html

4. Description of book by Altshuller on TRIZ,"The Art of Inventing"
http://www.webcom.com/aspen/ibc/ib-f.html

Dr. Tsourikov's Bio:

Dr. Tsourikov received his PhD in Computer Science and Artifical
Intelligence from Moscow Electrical Communication University. He was
formerly an Associate Professor of Computer Science and head of the
Intelligent System Laboratory at Minsk University of Informatics. He
has authored more than 70 papers in computer science, as well as the
book "The Path to Invention' (Russian). In 1994, Dr. Tsourikov was
named "Intellectual Man of the Year" by the British Biographic
Society for outstanding achievement in Computer Science.