In the fast growing world economy engineering design and production plays a more and more important role almost every day. The only chance for the advanced western nations to maintain their leading technological positions during the course of the current century is to invest in technology and education. This may help to retain the position which, according to predictions, they may lose by 2035 [1]. One of the key ways of keeping their leading technological positions is to develop problem solving research and education to the degree to which all the potential of their national economy and technology would be used. In this paper some aspects of problem solving research and practice using an algorithmic method called BTIPS (Brief Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) are discussed. The importance of problem solving in engineering education is also stressed, and an example of a university course in the subject is discussed.
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