“The Polytechnic Institute is a higher educational institution assigned for the training of engineers, that is, as the name itself indicates, people of genius capable of inventing and arranging a new one. With the concept of the activity of an engineer, the requirement of creative ability and creative activity, the ability to do something new must be combined. If one offers only a routine copy of the past, one does not need to graduate from a higher educational institution: his work will be the work of an artisan, rather than an engineer”. (From the speech of the first rector of KPI V.L. Kyrpychov, the opening KPI August 31, 1898)

KPI for more than a hundred years of its existence has developed a coherent system of training specialists, including the mandatory involvement of future engineers in research work from the very beginning of training. During six years of study, the student goes through all the stages of classical scientific research: preparing a literary review, carrying out patent-information research, experimental and / or design work.

At the beginning of the twentieth century there were many scientific circles in the KPI, in which more than a thousand students studied annually. At one time, world-known scientists worked in scientific circles - the creators of new technology and new technologies: Korolev, A.M. Lulka, V.I. Trefilova, O.O. Mikulin, E.O. Paton, B.E. Paton, I.I. Sikorsky, V.M. Chelomey, G.S. Pisarenko and others.

Since 1924 work in the KPI has begun to improve the general scientific level of students through scientific conferences, they began to attract to the inventive activity.

From 1971 to 1976 years. At the mechanical engineering, radio engineering, welding, chemical and technological faculties, student design and technology bureaus under the supervision of qualified scientific and pedagogical workers.

In the early 80s of the last century, a new discipline "Fundamentals of Technical Creativity" was introduced in the universities of the USSR and, in particular, in Ukraine. It provided for a series of lectures and practical exercises and was aimed at improving the skills of the future engineer as an innovator, creator, who should implement new technical ideas in a short time. This discipline in chronological order was connected with the courses "Introduction to the specialty", "History of engineering activity", "Fundamentals of scientific research" and is aimed at finding non-standard solutions in comparison with the general technical disciplines "Theory of mechanisms and machines", "Machine parts "And others, where execution of the course projects is mostly of a stereotyped nature, but the lack of specialists for teaching creative disciplines in universities led to the fact that such disciplines were left only where There were enthusiasts - generators of ideas.

Training of engineers in the field of methodology of technical creativity in the USSR was also carried out by public organizations that were part of the All-Union Organization of Inventors and Innovators (Vovre). They studied the algorithm for solving inventive problems (ARIZ) proposed by G.S. Altshuler, associative methods of G.Y. Bush, the generalized heuristic method of O.I. Polovinkin and the morphological analysis of F. Tsvik. Subsequently, the public association "Heuristics" was established in the USSR, which united the efforts of enthusiasts in TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving, - Rus.). Individual TRIZ schools remained in Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine and Russia.

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Today practically in all developed countries there are small, but with million-strong advisory firms that "trade" education in the field of modern technology of technical creativity and "produce" new technical ideas and solutions.

Leading universities of the USA, Austria, Germany, England pay much attention to teaching the students and masters the methodology of creativity.

For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology teaches discipline "Inventions and patents." In Massachusetts, the Altshuller Institute for the Study of TRIZ (Altshuller Institute for TRIZ Studies) operates.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the CPI has lagged behind in studying modern methods of technical creativity and the wide involvement of students in the CPI in inventing activities. Only in four faculties (MMI, FEL, IFF, VPI) and then not for all specialties (6 - bachelors, 6 - specialists) the discipline "Fundamentals of technical creativity" is stated with the number of hours from 27 to 270. A little more attention is paid to the discipline "Fundamentals Scientific research ", which is presented to bachelors, specialists, masters in 13 faculties in the amount of 27 to 459 hours.

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The shortcomings of the modern system of higher education include:

- disregard for the education of emotions, after studying the works of art and literature, getting acquainted with the life of famous scientists and inventors, reading fantastic literature, working under the guidance of a real teacher, one can also receive emotional upbringing

- Dogmatism - often dogmas are given to dogmas for years, generally accepted opinions, theories and theorems, which later, in semi-conscious form, students spread on exams (they lose interest in knowledge, consider themselves incapable of independent thinking). Scientific disciplines should be taught in such a way that the student can conduct independent research, obtain results and put forward hypotheses. It is necessary to allow the student 1-2 hours a week to work on an unresolved problem so far (faith is born)

- Negligent attitude to physical labor as an occupation, not inherent in intellectuals (it is often proud to say "I cannot score a nail.") It is necessary to "think with your hands," that is, anyone who develops the ability to invent should master at least one Craft in the period of training, "to translate into metal," to learn the pleasure of manual labor;

- the transformation of some scientific and pedagogical staff of higher educational institutions into secondary school teachers, who are divorced from scientific work and do not improve their qualifications. Unfortunately, some teachers try to teach at the dilettante level other creativity and invention, or with mistrust and even negatively regard the teaching of future engineers and masters of disciplines in scientific and technical creativity.

Experience shows that a part of those people who were gifted with the talent of a wine-maker had a chance to develop and use it independently. Moreover, teachers do NOT emphasize the students' attention to the possibility of creating something new that would be the best by existing.

Some teachers do not understand.

The fundamental difference between the disciplines of the creative cycle from classical and even special ones, where intellectual tasks are clearly defined (in the formulation, methods of solution, examples, and the results of the solution).

Creative engineering tasks are extremely heavy and complex (as a rule, there is no formulation of the problem, no method of solution is indicated, there are no examples for training, the result is unknown even to the teacher).

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The eight-year experience of teaching the Masters of the KPI and other universities of Ukraine discipline "Patenting and Copyright" shows that where bachelors and specialists studied the disciplines "Fundamentals of scientific and technical creativity", "The Theory of Technical Systems, "" Basics of intellectual activity ", etc., the level of inventive activity of young people by the number of created and implemented inventions is much higher.

Summing up all the above, I believe that the first steps towards the transition of Ukrainian education, science and production to world standards are the training of specialists of a new generation with a broad outlook, capable of creative thinking, and the independent discovery of a new one. At the same time, the study of the disciplines of the creative cycle relating to the creation, protection, implementation and protection of intellectual property should become as compulsory as the study of constitutional law, the history of Ukraine, science and technology.

In my opinion, it's time to create (rather than reorient and rename) new teaching units (faculty and departments, following the example of NTU "KHPI") in the multidisciplinary university to which the NTUU "KPI" belongs, for teaching the disciplines of the creative cycle, which combine high-qualified Teachers and scientists of various specialties and will perform the following tasks:

  • lay out for all students of the educational level of the "bachelor" discipline: "Fundamentals of scientific and technical (or engineering) creativity", "Fundamentals of artistic design" (or "Design Basics"), "History of technology," "Fundamentals of scientific research";
  • to spread for all students of educational levels "specialist" and "master" disciplines: "Intellectual Property", "Theory of solving creative problems" (or "Creatology"), "Technical Systems Theory", "Engineering Psychology", "System Analysis and Methods decision making ";
  • to spread for all students of an educational level a "master" of discipline: "Methodology of scientific research", "Patenting and copyright", "The theory of forecasting the development of technical systems";
  • prepare specialists for the specialty "Intellectual Property" (as the issuing unit)
  • read the cycle of lectures for graduate students;
  • to raise qualifications and provide the second specialty together with the postgraduate education center;
  • to prepare cadres of the highest qualification through postgraduate and doctoral studies.

In addition, it is necessary to develop an end-to-end, continuous system of training young people, starting with the study of creative abilities from the school age to obtaining Ph.D. and doctoral degrees.

To do this, the education system needs to develop a long-term strategy and the concept of training the intellectual elite in Ukraine, involving the NASU, the Academy of Higher Education of Ukraine, APN and the leading universities of Ukraine.

Then the development of the Ukrainian Kulibin and Edison will become a reliable foundation for the renewed Ukraine.

Y. Kuznetsov, Vice-President of the Academy of Higher Education of Ukraine, prof. Caf. Design of machine tools and machines, Honored Inventor of Ukraine