Creativity+Engineering

“When you type in the word creative on any image search engine, the results are images full of color, patterns, and expression. There is even categories to it; design, art, painting, photography and logos to name a few. In complete contrast, when you search the word engineering, the color scheme is a monochromatic blue, full of screws and bolts, circuit boards, and serious faced men wearing construction helmets… Sounds the complete opposite of creative if you ask me… ”

 So how is it that these two can coexist when the images coming to mind for both are complete opposites? Here are three ways that you can embrace the creative engineer inside of you:

 Stay curious

Have you heard of the phrase curiosity killed the cat? Well it certainty could of almost killed me when I tried sticking a fork inside an outlet when I was child. Now that you have imagined the worse out of being curious, please consider being curious in a safer manner. A way that you not only try to foresee oncoming issues with your experiments but also a way were you plan ahead what you want to understand better or try in the future. Really staying curious can be as easy and safe as keeping a small pocket notebook, where you write down questions, ideas, interests, experiments and even what restaurant you would like to visit if you were to visit Singapore.

 Make connections

Almost everyone has tried a connect the dots activity before. If not, the goal is to connect a dot labeled 1 to a dot labeled 2 and so on until you have the outline of a drawing you can now color in. Well making connections across disciplines isn't too far from this kindergartner activity. It may take a little practice wording questions or stripping a problem to its most basic concepts, but the principle is the same. Connecting other discipline and their perspective to your own. This creates a web of possible solutions, a combination of ideas, and a never ending source of inspiration.

Make mistakes

And lots of them. In various areas. All of the time… Ok maybe not all of the time, that would add up to a big -$ in someone’s bank account. But all in all don't be afraid to not get it perfect right off the bat. to draw a dinosaur when you were trying to draw a person or to forget a decimal point in a CNC G-code. Making mistakes leads us to asking questions, and whether we obtain answers through reading, asking others, or continuous experimentation you will always gain more wisdom and knowledge!

Really, these are things we have heard before. They aren't new. Nonetheless these three things can help you become more creative because to be creative doesn’t mean to always give the same answer, or to know the correct answer all of the time. To be creative means to be able to give various solutions to the problems at hand whether you are working in a team or by yourself.