Q&A: Jan Trommelmans on a new course in engineering innovations
Jan Trommelmans is professor of applied sciences at Antwerp University, where he is co-ordinating the new course in engineering innovation and entrepreneurship
Natural progression
I thought the major task of an engineer was to solve technical problems, not be an entrepreneur.
Engineers are indeed trained during their education to solve technical problems. But the link with innovation and entrepreneurship is always there, for a technical solution always brings you one step closer to the development of a new product or a new production process. So innovation follows naturally from what an engineer does.
The problem is that innovation is not finished when the engineer comes up with a magnificent solution. A beautiful invention that lacks the support of the other departments inside a company … marketing, sales, design … has no meaning. An engineer benefits from being able to place a technological contribution in the totality of the enterprise. For me personally, this course serves as a bonus for technically well-grounded students who want to broaden their world.
How can you stir up innovative powers in students? Isn’t it similar to creativity: You either have it or you don’t?
Innovation is not the work of a lone genius. Inside a company, you can regard innovation as a system in which several people from different departments work together to develop new products or services. It’s not a matter of natural talent, more of the right attitude. The most important lesson for our students is that they have to realise that innovation is not restricted to a small group of exceptionally gifted people. That’s also why they have to do an internship. There they will realise that the myth of the lone inventor is exactly that: a myth.
Can you give an example of engineers who have become true innovators?
I know several, but let’s take icoMetrix. This company was founded in 2010 by three engineers who had just graduated from the University of Leuven. They developed medical imaging software that has significantly improved the analysis of brain scans – used to diagnose diseases like Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis. The combination of a technical tour de force with superb customer service has seen this company grow to 15 full-time employees today.
