One of the webinars of the virtual Kuala Lumpur Engineering Science Fair (e-KLESF) titled “Solving Inventive Problems with TRIZ” was held on 16 December 2022 via Zoom and Facebook. The webinar was conducted by Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) lecturer Tan Yong Li.

Tan took the “Rulers of the Road” scenario and “Sang Kancil and the Crocodiles” story to discuss with participants how to solve the problems using TRIZ. He also provided participants with an initial understanding of TRIZ in advance.

He revealed, “Many people assume that creating new ideas is the beginning of the innovation process, but actually that is not true. Innovation is a process and the innovation process starts with a problem or possibly a goal.” He then elaborated on the risks of innovation.

Further on, Tan gave a brief introduction to TRIZ and said, “The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) is a word derived from Russia— теория решения изобретательских задач. It was discovered and developed by Genrich Altshuller - the Father of TRIZ and his colleagues in the year 1946, all the way to 1985, in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It is based on the study of patterns of problems and solutions. It is also a systematic problem-solving method based on logic and data, not intuition of individuals or groups.”

He mentioned, “Inventive Principle is a basic generalised rule that is accepted as facts; works in exactly the same way consistently and usually followed as a basis of reasoning or explanation of the invention.” He also elaborated on the emergence of innovations from the application of inventive principles and strategies; the difference between a normal problem (problem without contradiction) and inventive problems (problem with contradiction); and the meaning of contradiction.

Later on, he introduced the 40 Inventive Principles by providing some life examples to provide the participants with a deeper understanding. The 40 Inventive Principles included segmentation, taking out/extraction, local quality, asymmetry, merging/combination, universality, nested doll, anti-weight/counterweight, dynamics, and continuity of useful action, to name a few.

“Inventive Principles are important for building the blocks of innovation. Innovation is RISKY, but TRIZ increases SUCCESS. Most importantly, the culture of innovation and top management leadership and support are success factors of TRIZ,” he concluded.

Other webinars held on the same day included “Technology & career in esports”, conducted by TAR UMT Esports Co-curricular Instructor Cheong Wai Lup; “Toward better user interface”, conducted by TAR UMT Lecturer Najlaa Sadiq binti Mokhtar; “Huawei fusionsolar: renewable powered future”, conducted by Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Smart PV Solution Manager Ir Jason Kang; “An introduction to cold-process soap making workshop”, conducted by UTAR Senior Lecturer Gs Ts Amelia Chiang Kar Mun; and “Bengkel pengenalan robotik”, conducted by Sasbadi Holdings Berhad Head of Department Tengku Hazrul bin Tengku Haizar. The webinars greatly benefited and inspired the participants. For the full videos, please visit KLESF Facebook.