INNOVATION ENGINEERING BLUE BELT CERTIFICATE
LEVEL: BEGINNER
Learn technical innovation skills that will help you to transform your career, company and community.
Innovation is the business triple threat. It can help your company thrive. It helps your career soar. It creates better solutions to solve the world’s problems. But not everyone knows how to do it. In this course, you’ll learn critical technical innovation skills, but MORE IMPORTANTLY, you’ll work with a coach to apply your new skills immediately to solve your real-world challenges.
This is NOT your Typical Course.
Innovation Engineering courses and tools are grounded in the world’s largest database of quantitative data on innovation – over 26,000 innovations, deep data on 15,000 teams, over $19 billion in innovations as they go from raw idea to reality. Only proven technology tools and skills are included in the curriculum.
Technology changes fast, and if you don’t have critical innovation skills, you’re falling behind. This course and certificate teach you technical innovation skills to advance.
Category:
Research • Technology Development • Prototyping • Financial Modeling • Data-Driven Decisions • Agile Project Management • System Mapping • Innovation • Intra/Entrepreneurship
Dan Becker,
Automation & Efficiency Specialist
Upskill to Get Ahead
Dan used the skillset he learned from this program to change the course of his technology-focused career – starting from industrial design and moving into programming robots as an Automation & Efficiency Specialist.
Dan used his new competencies to truly get upskilled. Thanks to his new way of innovative thinking, leveraging proven innovation tools, problem solving and agile learning, he literally skilled his way to a new role and greater growth.
(You’ll hear Dan talk about “the Ranch.” He’s referring to the Eureka! Ranch where he participated in a live course. He’ll also talk about the “Blue Card”, one of the tools for activating a strategy, and a “Yellow Card,” a tool for communicating an idea).
GENERATING NEW IDEAS. SOLVING BIG PROBLEMS.
DISCOVERING, DEVELOPING AND DELIVERING NEW SOLUTIONS FOR THE WORLD.
IN THIS COURSE YOU’LL LEARN:
SKILLS TO
DEVELOP IDEAS
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Technology Research: Learn how to conduct research using patent and academic article databases to develop new product/service ideas
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Matrix Mixing: Learn how to use the Matrix Mixing tool to force-associate randomized related and unrelated stimulus to develop new product/service ideas
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Mind Mapping: Learn how to use the Mind Mapping tool to individually and collaboratively explore and flesh out new product/service concepts
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Concept Design: Learn how to scope and clearly communicate your new product/service idea using interactive tools, such as Idea Coach – a tool that uses a proprietary algorithm to provide instant suggestions on how to increase your offering’s clarity and appeal to customers
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Rapid Customer Research and Data: Learn how to use the Rapid Test tool to conduct research with customers and stakeholders to quantify purchase intent and differentiation in the marketplace. Rapid Test results help make data-driven decisions about how to develop new products and services.
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Math Modeling: Learn how to build financial models using a Free Form Risk Adjusted Calculator. The Calculator uses a Monte Carlo Simulation to model high uncertainty forecasts like future sales and/or impacts of new/emerging technologies where past data is not readily available.
SKILLS TO
BUILD & DELIVER IDEAS
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Prototyping: Learn how to create concept, “looks-like,” prototypes for early customer feedback and functional, “works-like,” prototypes for proof of concept to ensure fast and cheap learning before significant investment.
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Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) Agile Project Management Cycles of Learning: Learn how to apply the scientific method to conduct rapid cycles of learning through the design and build phases to solve any challenge, improve any idea, and deliver innovative new products and services faster – a must to get ahead in this tech-infused world that’s moving faster than ever. Innovation Engineering uses Dr. W. Edwards Deming’s (the “Father of Systems Thinking”) PDSA approach, not PDCA, to emphasize LEARNING and adapting from your work (Study), not CHECKING for failure/success (Check).
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System Mapping: Learn how to diagram current systems, applying Dr. Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge, to understand and begin improvements, which are often needed when implementing new/emerging technologies and building and delivering breakthrough new products/services. Students learn how to distinguish between common cause and special cause sources of variation and how to identify psychological problems within systems to ensure they are focusing on improvements that yield the highest impact.
Learn by Doing Certification
When it comes to learning and innovation – it all happens when you take action. Which is why our certification assignments help you connect the dots between your real-world challenges and your new innovation skills.
Expert Coaching from an Innovation Engineering Black Belt. When you’re trying to apply these skills for the first time, you sometimes fail. (A good lesson for all would-be innovators!) Which is why our coaches are there to give you fast feedback, ideas, insights and advice.
Plus, when you earn your Innovation Engineering Blue Belt Certification and get the ultimate double-bonus: greater value for your organization and a great boost to your career.
Identify and Improve a System You Work Within.
Whether the system you work within is human-based or AI and machine learning, to improve it you must first understand systems thinking and variation. In this case you’ll map a current system and the variation within it and learn methods to improve it.
Create and Define an Innovation Strategy for Yourself or Your Team.
Innovation doesn’t just start. It’s typically rooted in a problem or opportunity. You’ll identify a problem or opportunity and frame it in a way that makes the path to development clear (and reduced rework in the process.)
Gather Stimulus to Spark Solutions.
You’ll learn how to do intensive research in everything from patents and techonology, customer insights, market trends, future trends and academic articles to not only stay up-to-date with the latest advancements, but use it as stimulus to create next generation solutions.
Discover & Develop New Solutions.
You’ll use your new skills and tools to create Meaningfully Unique ideas for a real challenge – applying methods for leveraging others and collaborating to co-create new solutions.
Build a Business Case
You’ll build a business case for your innovation – including a persuasive description of the idea, a math estimate for the impact it will create, and an assessment of organization, market and technology risks to overcome in development.
Fail Fast, Fail Cheap Development
You’ll run three ‘Fail Fast, Fail Cheap’ cycles of learning on your idea to start to reduce uncertainty on one or more risks with the idea.
Challenges tackled by previous Innovation Engineering Blue Belts through their course:
- A system to reduce errors in a woodworking shop
- An improved system for gathering ideas & filing patents
- A better employee on-boarding process
- A reinvented technology-based check-in process for a hotel
- A software solution taken to a new market
- A personal coaching service
- A reinvented construction tool
Why this Course is Different
Unlike other innovation courses that are based on a few personal experiences or third-person research – this course is grounded in front-lines innovation work and hard data from the world’s largest database (26,000+) on what drives success and failure. The data is so reliable that the curriculum, called Innovation Engineering, is recognized as a new field of academic study with undergraduate and graduate degrees offered at colleges and universities.
Recognized leaders in the development and application of technologies who’ve applied these skills include the US Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology, Citrix, Hewlett Packard, Meggitt Aircraft Braking Systems, DRS, Lockheed Martin, Toyota, Mercedes Benz, dunnhumby, GlaxoSmithKline, Humana, L-3, PNC Bank, Walt Disney, Nike, Pepsi-Cola, American Express, Procter & Gamble, and many more
This course is brought to you by the Innovation Engineering Institute – a partnership between Eureka! Ranch and the University of Maine.
Take the Course ONLINE
The on-demand, online version of the course is self-paced, so you can begin immediately. And because every module has a component of application, you’ll work on your own challenges throughout the course. We also offer the online course in a facilitated cohort format, where you can collaborate with a team.
- Instant Access
- No Pre-work
- 6 months to complete the certification and receive a Blue Belt Certificate
Self-Paced
Instant Application
COURSE FEE: $3,000 USD per person
OR Take the Course IN PERSON
The 2-day in-person version of the course is great when you want to bring a team together to innovate under tight time pressures. Leveraging the diversity of the group, the interactions built throughout the experience help advance thinking and ideas faster through collaboration.
- Pre-work: 4 hours of online video lessons
- Course: Two 8a-5p in-person days
- 2 months to complete the certification program and receive a Blue Belt certificate
Faster Pace
Great for Teams
COURSE FEE: $3,000 USD per person
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THIS COURSE & CERTIFICATE
At the end of the course, each person submits a final reflection – a mindful review of the experience and what they really took away. Here are but a handful of the most recent.
I have embraced and studied project based learning and design thinking. This course has so many useful aspects that will enhance and complement PBL and the design thinking process already in place at our school.
I wish you could see the smile on my face. This is because going through this process made me think differently and that is what I need to do in order to grow my business.
Overall what has changed the most for me is that I regularly think of how I can make things better or I’ll try to come up with a new idea for something that already exists.
This course didn’t just change the way I look at my work, but it changed the way I literally look at everything around me.
I have really enjoyed the course and I am changing how I think and tackle new problems on a daily basis. The initial payment that I made is a small investment for a lifetime of more efficient thinking and problem solving.
First of all, it is probably one of the most challenging courses I’ve ever taken online and it has been the most rewarding.
Secondly, the expert coach has given me such insightful comments on how I can improve my assignments that it has made the challenges even more worthwhile.
My biggest take away from this course is that in order to innovate, you are going to fail. It’s part of the process to doing something better. It demystified the word innovation itself.
I learned that paper airplanes did bring out the kid in me. Heck, I stayed later at work just to do this experiment.
My kids and I need to go back to paper airplane school. Our first few designs didn’t get over 6 feet. With a little research we started getting good distances and they had fun working on this with me as my “team.”
I must say I had a love-hate relationship with this course. I realize that the hate part came into play whenever I was pushed outside my comfort zone. Those were the most powerful moments for me.
FAQ
Who is the certifying body?
Innovation Engineering Blue Belt Certificates are granted by the Innovation Engineering Institute – a joint venture partnership between the Eureka! Ranch and the University of Maine.
Who is this course for?
This course is designed for anyone that wants to get upskilled in the innovative skills and thinking. According to the World Economic Forum, 54% of employees globally will need upskilled in innovation by 2022 to keep up with the increasing technology and marketplace demands of the changing world.
The groups we tend to see more often are rising leaders, engineers, technical staff, development teams, front-line operators, logical thinkers, and other staff of organizations trying to create a culture of innovation.
What's the difference between the online and the in-person course?
The same skills and level of rigor apply in either format.
The in-person course is great for private programs to promote team-building and when you want to move fast, as it’s taught at an accelerated pace.
The online course is a great option for individuals working on their own or teams with limited travel budgets. It also works well with cohorts of students interested in completing the individual assignments at a personal pace but sharing learning and working with their team on a regular basis through facilitated, interactive online meetups.
How long does the course take to complete?
FOR THE IN-PERSON VERSION, you’ll spend about 4 hours watching video lessons before attending the live 2-day in-person training. You’ll then have 2 months to complete the certification work to get your Innovation Engineering Blue Belt Certificate.
FOR THE ONLINE VERSION, we recommend you spend 30 minutes per day working on the course. Based on that you can expect it to take 3 months for the course and certificate – or a total of 45 hours. If you are in a cohort, you have the option to meet twice a month for an hour for learning-sharing and collaboration.
What topics will I work on in the application assignments?
You can work on anything that’s meaningful to you. Some topics that have been tackled by previous students are: a system to reduce errors in a woodworking shop, an improved system for gathering ideas & filing patents, a reinvented construction tool, and visioning for a new community center, a new technology advancement.
Ready to get started?
Contact us to register for the on-demand online version, an upcoming live class or a private class for your team, division or company.