TSD12 - PEAK Performers in Engineering: A.I.-Powered Innovation - From Ideation to Customer Discovery
Program Description
This experiential two-hour workshop introduces students and innovators to Generative AI as a collaborative partner in the innovation and product development process. Rather than viewing AI solely as a productivity tool, participants will explore how AI can function as a thinking partner that supports creative exploration, research, and early-stage decision making.
Through guided demonstrations and hands-on exercises, participants will learn how AI can accelerate key phases of the innovation cycle, including idea generation, market and competitive analysis, preliminary technical feasibility exploration, and customer discovery. The workshop emphasizes practical application and responsible use of AI to support evidence-based innovation and entrepreneurial thinking.
By the end of the session, participants will have a foundational understanding of how AI can be integrated into innovation workflows and will leave with practical prompting techniques and tools that can be immediately applied to product development, research projects, and entrepreneurial ventures.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this workshop, you will be able to:
- Apply Generative AI as a collaborative tool in the innovation process to support ideation, exploration of alternatives, and structured problem solving.
- Use AI to accelerate early-stage research, including scanning competitive landscapes and synthesizing relevant market and technology information.
- Conduct preliminary technical feasibility exploration by engaging AI as a first-pass analytical partner to identify constraints, risks, and possible solution pathways.
- Develop and refine customer personas and user insights by using AI to synthesize qualitative and quantitative information related to customer needs and behaviors.
- Leverage AI to improve innovation workflow efficiency by automating documentation, summarization, and early-stage concept development tasks.
Who Should Attend:
- Licensed Professional Engineers: Looking to maintain their P.E. licensure with affordable PDHs.
- Engineering Managers: Aiming to keep their team up-to-date with industry standards, innovation practices, and emerging technologies
- Recent Engineering Graduates: Seeking to broaden their professional knowledge and network.
- Technical Consultants: Interested in staying current with the latest advancements in engineering.
- Engineering Educators: Wishing to incorporate the latest industry practices into their curriculum
- Product Development and R&D Professionals: Involved in concept development, feasibility analysis, or innovation initiatives
- Technical Consultants and Subject Matter Experts: Interested in staying current with new tools that accelerate analysis, ideation, and decision-making
Gene Wright is an Assistant Professor at the Rader School of Business and the Pieper Family Foundation Endowed Chair for Servant-Leadership at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). Prior to joining MSOE full-time, he taught graduate and undergraduate courses as an adjunct professor for over 25 years, including appointments at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Lubar School of Business. His teaching expertise spans New Product Development Management, Innovation Management, Business Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Marketing. At UWM, Wright also served as the Lubar Executive MBA Program Director and conducted executive education workshops for corporate clients.