This page provides a public repository of the materials for ME 370. Do not just rely on this public web site. Additional materials, especially those with copyright restrictions are provided via links on the D2L web site. This public site provides more convenient maintenance of web links (an advantage for me, not for you), and in prevents the course materials from being unnecessarily hidden from view.
To prepare for the first class meeting, please read the following items
Preface in Citizen Engineer
Introduction in Citizen Engineer
Chapter 1 in Citizen Engineer
To prepare for class meeting number 2, read the following and complete the on-line reading quiz
Read at least one reference on SMART goals
You may also find the following interesting, thought it is not required
Refer to the homework page for more details.
Read Chapter 12 in Citizen Engineer, Intellectual Property Law Fundamentals, which provides a comprehensive overview of the material presented in the lecture videos.
After you watch each of the following video segments, review the study questions which are designed to help you review the concepts presented in the videos.
YouTube Video: Introduction to Intellectual Property (2 minutes)
YouTube Video: Overview of Patents (6.5 minutes)
YouTube Video: Utility Patents (7 minutes)
YouTube Video: Copyright (15 minutes)
YouTube Video: Trademarks and Trade Secrets (6.5 minutes)
You can download single file version of the Lecture Slides used in the video segments. The single file version has some slight differences including two new slides (#27 and #28) on First to File and the International Patent Cooperation Treaty
Note: Lecture slides posted here have been updated since they were used in class. The new version of the slides have (1) a better introduction to the linear model of innovation, (2) a brief explanation of the "fail fast" idea and the minimum viable product, and (3) a two-slide summary at the end. Slides were updated again in Sept 2015 to include articles questioning the utility of Christensen's widely accepted theory of disruptive innovation.
Supplemental notes
Lecture notes on "what you should know about innovation"
On Paro Robots
Robots in Manufacturing
Air-bag manufacturer alleged to suppress data on danger of air-bags in cars
From the article in the NY Times:
And as automakers drove down costs using "just-in-time" production — which require parts to arrive at assembly plants only as they are required — Takata was under pressure to meet intense delivery schedules, they said. Workers were often told that if a client like Honda or Toyota was required to stop production at their plants because of a late Takata shipment, the parts supplier would be fined tens of thousands of dollars for every minute of lost production.
"That put a lot of pressure and incentive on us to never miss a shipment," said one of the former managers. "I'd argue, 'what if my daughter bought the car with the bad airbag?' But the plant would tell us, 'Just ship it.' "
Clay Shirky gives advice to women about how to be more successful in the business world and how to get a job
and responses