The Webster's dictionary defines 'Invention' as 'discovery, finding'  meaning, 'to produce (as something useful) for the first time through  the use of imagination or of ingenious thinking and experiment.' This is  distinctly different from the definition of 'Innovation' as 'the  introduction of something new'. Others have also described innovation  as, 'the first commercial use of new technology/invention'. Hence,  though the pursuit of new knowledge/science (and hence invention) is  commendable and a necessary first step, yet the successful  development/commercialization of new technology or the original  invention (and hence innovation) is crucial to industry for value  creation. Such innovation usually requires several additional inventions  on the way to successful commercialization. Requirements and skill sets  at the individual and the organizational levels are very different for  the path to 'Invention' and 'Innovation'. Personal reflections of such  requirements will be presented from author's experiences over 40 years  of conducting and leading industrial research and development projects.  Enablers and barriers to 'Invention' and 'Innovation' will be  highlighted. Three examples of such 'Inventions' and 'Innovation' in  ethylene epoxidation catalysis will be covered that have provided  several hundreds of million dollars worth of cumulative benefits over  the past three decades and provided added capacity equivalent to a world  scale unit. Two other examples of 'Invention' will be presented that  have the potential of becoming Innovations and create value in the  future. These are in the areas of three-way automotive emissions control  and in the production of ethylene from methane by selective oxidative  coupling of methane.

Invention and innovation: Some personal reflections

244th National Meeting (2012)

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