Creativity, innovation and engineering: mutually exclusive they are not

Typically creativity and activities that surround creativity such as innovation are not found in programs of product design engineering. The product design programme in the School of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Leeds is different. From almost the first day that it was launched it deliberately imbedded creativity and innovation as a part of its curriculum. That was nearly ten years ago. This paper describes the creativity and innovation components of the product design programme, its development over the last nine years, and the lessons learned along the way. Five of these lessons have proven to be particularly informative, important and relevant. These are: • Variety of exercises: How does the choice and type of exercise in creativity and innovation influence student learning? Duration of exercise: How does the duration of exercises in creativity and innovation – short, medium, long – affect the quality of output and student involvement? • Individual or team: What are the merits of individual exercises compared to team exercises? • Cooperation or competition: How do cooperation and competition differ in creating effective learning? • Theory versus practice: What is the appropriate combination between theory and practice when it comes to teaching creativity and innovation? The paper concludes by connecting creativity and innovation to the needs in industry.