CAREER: Collective Innovation - Transforming the Realization of Complex Engineering Systems

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The research objective of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award is to establish the foundations for the realization of complex systems through collective innovation, which is characterized by the self-organization of individuals into decentralized, non-hierarchical communities. The research objective will be achieved by using principles from biological evolution and network dynamics to understand the bottom-up evolution of systems and the self-organization of communities. The research approach will combine mathematical theories and computational approaches, including the theory of network evolution, social network analysis, and agent-based modeling. Knowledge pertaining to the evolutionary dynamics of systems and communities that will be gained from this research, will be used to develop cyberinfrastructure for collective innovation. The educational objective is to prepare a new generation of engineers for collective systems innovation. The educational objective will be achieved by providing collective innovation experiences to students within an ecosystem of design projects that spans across graduate courses, undergraduate courses, and student design competitions.If successful, the results of this research will enable engineering enterprises to use a significant but underutilized mode of innovation by communities of employees within organizations, and of enthusiasts outside the organizations. The cyberinfrastructure (based on a bottom-up combination of systems and communities) will complement the current product lifecycle management platforms by fostering community-centered innovation strategies. The educational approach centered on an ecosystem of design projects will provide a unique workforce prepared for collective innovation. The educational activities are designed to impact undergraduate and graduate students through collective innovation experiences, and high school students through design competitions and summer camps. The outreach efforts are designed to increase public awareness through local science centers, to support local communities through design-oriented service-learning projects, and to increase the participation of women and minorities through undergraduate research. The results will be disseminated to industry through data exchange, collaboration on research tasks, student internships, and regular meetings.