Innovator in the Spotlight

Ayda Golahmadi EngD trainee Smart Cities and Buildings

Improving indoor air quality in schools in the Netherlands

My research is focused on improving indoor air quality (IAQ) in schools in the Netherlands as part of the ECOS-IAQ project.

Eindhoven Engine Academy now offers the Business Model Innovation in an Exponential World course

The seminar series (course) on Business Model Innovation in an Exponential World, co-financed by PATO*, is available on our website as of 15 December. In the best of open-source tradition, we have made all of the content available with a roadbook, workbook, webinars and additional resources so that any individual or group can freely use it. 

If you and your team know how to walk the path of a particular innovation and you know what your ideal outcome should be, a good systems engineering approach will adequately support you. But if you are dealing with a wicked problem in which you know the rough problem area but have no idea yet of all possible solutions, systems engineering is not going to help you. In such a case, you need to spend more time on understanding the problem area as systematically as possible and not jumping too quickly to solutions. At the same time, there is the imperative of rapid, agile innovation as the exponential reality does not leave you with too much time either. Additionally, the objective is not only to come up with innovative solutions to a wicked problem; market viability and societal impact are crucial if you would want your innovation to become real.

With that in mind, we have designed and developed this Business Model Innovation in an Exponential World course. In a short period of time, it helps you and your team to understand the problem area profoundly, identify a few meaningful scenarios that lead towards solutions, pay attention to their sustainability and circularity, and translate them into a business model canvas. Ideally, every project should start with this approach, but it could be equally useful after the first exploration of potential solutions.

Transformational journeys

The course supports you and the team in undergoing two transformational journeys. One journey deals with each participant’s personal transformation, as if we are not critical regarding our assumptions, prejudgments, experiences and so on, we will continue doing what we have always done and innovation will be difficult. The second transformation journey is one based on a particular project or problem. The team will walk through a six-step approach based on design thinking and systems thinking, using the collective intelligence of the team to lead to a prototype/business model of a few viable solution scenarios.

Both journeys are supported by webinars, giving background to the approach and illustrating the assignments. A ‘script’ is made available that participants can follow, detailing the methodology. At each step of the assignments, resources can be used to support the learning of the participants if needed.

Real transformation is complicated and takes time. Although we make the entire methodology available for free use by anybody, we are simultaneously aware that such transformation journeys will be much more impactful if correctly supported, coached and mentored. Based on this approach, Eindhoven Engine Academy can support you in the design and mentoring of a tailormade transformation journey for your particular project or company. 

As of 2022, we will offer this seminar series internally to our Eindhoven Engine projects. For the public market, we will offer a four-day, fully-present seminar on this content in the spring. Follow our socials to find out more about this offering. For now (15 December), make use of this opportunity and, if needed, contact us to discuss tailormade solutions.

In a short period of time, it helps you and your team to: