INNOVATION
jury can’t come to a verdict. With this system, de Bono identifies distinct states in which
the brain can be “sensitised”. In each of these states the brain will identify and bring into conscious thought certain aspects of issues being considered (ie gut instinct, pessimistic judgment, neutral facts). Each state is assigned a colour, so, for example, when you’re
wearing your red hat, this represents gut instinct and you only deal with the problem being posed from that perspective. “It is such a powerful and effective way to come to a solution
as every avenue is thought about. I use it in companies to help them generate ideas. Innovation is an over-used word at the moment. I try to break it right down and define it as ‘using creativity to add value or generate benefits’,” says Kumar.
A CHILDHOOD DREAM
The approach of being creative to solve problems is deep-rooted in Kumar,who wanted to be an inventor since the age of five. “All my report cards and teacher feedback said I was curi-
ous as a child.When I was eight years old I started a book of ideas for inventions, some of which I’m still working on now. They dealt with all kinds of problems, like wishing a toy did something different. I would take the toy apart and put it back together to solve my needs.” In secondary school, she realised she wanted to do a degree
to become an inventor but her career-guidance teacher told her there was no such thing. Kumar recalls: “I was very artistic at school and also excelled in maths and science, but it wasn’t possible to do the combination of these subjects at A Level, so I did maths, physics and chemistry. I did mechanical engi- neering at college but felt constrained on the artistic/creative side, so went to art school separately to keep it up. Doing a master’s in engineering and product design was when my dreams came true. I now had all the tools I needed to invent.”
TOWARDS THE NON-DRIP TEAPOT
On the suggestion of one of her lecturers, Kumar decided to try to design the world’s first non-drip teapot as her summer project. “I knew no one had done it and several countries had tried to solve the problem so I thought I’d give it a shot. I strongly believe in learning by doing and that the education system needs to change in Europe towards this and away from mostly knowledge transmission. “I found a ceramics maker in London and spent the summer
with him making prototypes of teapots and testing them using mathematical and scientific formulae until I came up with the one that was fool-proof scientifically but worked practically – the spout was shaped so that no matter what way you poured it wouldn’t drip or spill.” Kumar filed for a patent and was catapulted into the media
limelight, appearing on the BBC,SkyNews and theDiscovery Channel as well as making the headlines in all the papers. “It is still the only worldwide patent for a non-drip spout. The patenting process is quite long and expensive and the product is yet to be manufactured. I have another 20 ideas I’d like to
32 OWNER MANAGER VOL 3 ISSUE 3 2010
bring out, mainly household products,” she says. After inventing the spout, Kumar worked in industry for a
few years for companies such as Habitat, and went on to organise the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World Roadshow, taking the exhibition across the UK to 100,000 children. She was headhunted to work for MediaLab Europe in Ire-
land in 2004, so shemoved here.Then the company shut down after 12 months. “I think everything happens for a reason and I used this as
a positive. The Higher Education Authority offered me a scholarship to do a second master’s in University College Dublin,” she says. Entitled ‘Wearable kinematic and physiological biofeed-
back system for movement-based relaxation’, this project looked at inventing a suit thatmeasures real-time bodymove- ments using sensors for people doing yoga as part of their recovery in hospital. Her latest invention has been to create the ideal degree pro-
gramme that wasmissing when she started out.Having started her academic career atDublin Institute ofTechnology in 2006, she joined NUI Maynooth a year later where she directed and completed the establishment of the new BSc honours degree in product design before moving to her current role. “It is my dream degree, incorporating the artistic disci-
plines such as drawing with maths, physics, materials and manufacturing. We will have the first batch of final-year graduates this year and I aim to foster a similar approach amongst other degrees.Overall this will lead to a better econ- omy. Creative thinking needs to be embedded in everything we do.” Damini Kumar was a speaker at InterTradeIreland’s 2010 All-Island Innovation conference.
European Ambassadors for Creativity and Innovation Manifesto – the priorities
1.Nurture creativity in a lifelong learning process where theory and practice go hand in hand
2.Make schools and universities places where students and teachers engage in creative thinking and learning by doing
3.Transformworkplaces into learning sites 4.Promote a strong, independent and diverse cultural sector that can sustain intercultural dialogue
5.Promote scientific research to understand the world, improve people’s lives and stimulate innovation
6.Promote design processes, thinking and tools, understanding the needs, emotions, aspirations and abilities of users
7.Support business innovation that contributes to prosperity and sustainability.
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