May 06, 2019
OVERVIEW: Nuclear fusion is the energy source of the future—and always will be. That old joke has served for decades to illustrate the frustration of fusion plasma physicists and policymakers, who...
Learning Center
IRI resources assist your day-to-day R&D functions and help in problem solving. Search by keyword, topic, or your R&D role to find tools to help you manage your organization's R&D and innovation process more effectively.
October 16, 2019
5G and the Impending Technology Revolution: How Connectivity Will Redefine Digital Transformation, and Why NOW is the Time to Start Thinking About It 5G is rumored to be a golden solution, the...
August 30, 2016
In recent years, new models of innovation based on crowdsourcing and innovation communities have emerged, and some have had notable success. Karim Lakhani has studied these models rigorously and...
How do you spark creativity with limited resources? I am trying to establish a feeling of creativity and curiosity on what's going on outside of the narrow world of our own products. We have a sub...
March 01, 2018
This column is the latest in a series of discussions aimed at defining the vocabulary of innovation management. The object is to take on the profession’s terms of art, exploring their origins and...
July 01, 2007
In my previous “Human Side” column, I proposed basic research/technology leadership training under the headings of four Ps: Purpose, Process, People, Presentation (1). I asked readers to let me know...
May 03, 2017
This column is the latest in a series of discussions aimed at defining the vocabulary of innovation management. The object is to take on the profession’s terms of art, exploring their origins and...
November 01, 2006
Because innovation can be achieved in many ways, measuring innovativeness is difficult to do well with a single measure. One effective approach is to pair a “fixed” with a “variable” measure, that is...
January 01, 2004
Company leaders, CFOs, the stock market, and the Federal Accounting Standards Board have begun to realize what CTOs and marketers have always known: the greatest driver of value in a company is its...
Do You Recommend ISO Certification? Sandia's Science, Technology, and Engineering Management Unit is beginning a three-year journey to become ISO-9000 certified. Because work in this SMU constitutes...
How long does it take to generate an MSDS? In your organization, how long does it take to generate a new Material Safety Data Sheet in support of R&D? - Vice President, R&D, Global chemical...
January 01, 2020
More companies are realizing they have a role to play in solving some of the most critical problems of our time. Sustainability, social justice, and community development are now in scope for...
How do you organize R&D? The CTO from Procter & Gamble, Bruce Brown, gave an excellent presentation on "Why Innovation Matters: Mastering a Reliable, Repeatable Process" as the opening...
January 20, 2017
Consumers develop many valuable products—and reveal their unprotected designs to others—as “free innovations.” 1 1 This article offers a brief sketch of the concept and importance of free innovation...
How do you encourage publications? We are looking for best practices from peer companies. We are a regulated industry where peer reviewed published scientific information has great value...
April 01, 2008
California, the state with a long history of stimulating new science and technology, has now begun a revolution in the means of organizing the research responsible for fresh advances. The California...