The Innovation Cycle of Engineering Design Teams: Computational Modeling Using Situated Social Cognitive Agents

工程创新是创造财富的基础之一。创新越来越多地发生在工程设计团队的活动中，而不是通过个人。本研究的目的是开发工程设计团队创新周期的计算模型，以便研究不同参数对提高跨开发周期创新的影响。使用计算模型是因为研究不同团队参数的影响是非常困难和昂贵的，这些参数可能会直接提高组织内工程设计团队的创新。考虑到组织的日常活动的紧迫性，改变团队参数可能是不可能的。团队成员通过计算建模，并根据他们与其他团队成员的互动、团队外的社交媒体互动以及消费者对其产品的消费行为反馈，提供改变和发展经验的能力。消费者也被计算建模，并根据他们与设计团队生产的产品的互动以及他们与其他消费者的社交媒体互动来发展经验。本研究项目的结果包括一个计算实验室，在那里可以研究有可能影响创新绩效的参数。有了这个计算实验室，就有可能测试声称可以在多个产品开发周期中提高创新的策略。通过运行一系列的实验，将有可能确定改善工程设计团队创新周期的干预措施。

Engineering innovation is one of the foundations of wealth generation. Innovation increasingly occurs through the activities of engineering design teams rather than through individuals. The objective of this research is to develop computational models of the innovation cycle of engineering design teams that allow for the study of the effects of varying parameters on improving innovation across development cycles. A computational model is used since it is very difficult and prohibitively expensive to study the effects of varying team parameters that might improve innovation in engineering design teams directly within organizations. Given the exigencies of the day-to-day activities of organizations it may not be possible to vary team parameters. Members of teams are modeled computationally and are provided with the ability to change and develop experience based on their interactions with other team members, social media interactions outside the team and feedback from the consumption behavior of consumers of their products. Consumers are also modeled computationally and develop experience based on their interactions with products produced by design teams and their social media interactions with other consumers. The results of this research project include a computational laboratory where parameters that have the potential to affect innovation performance can be studied. With this computational laboratory it will be possible to test strategies that are claimed to improve innovation over multiple cycles of product development. By running a range of experiments it will be possible to identify interventions that improve the innovation cycles of engineering design teams.