Monday, Oct. 19, 1998
Inventor to share his secrets for becoming unstuck
Ever been stuck trying to solve a design problem? Ever run out of new ideas when trying to come up with a new solution? Lev Shulyak knows what it feels like.
Shulyak is a mechanical engineer with more than 40 years of experience in inventing, designing, implementing and marketing his ideas and inventions. On Wednesday, Shulyak will be at the Laboratory's Bradbury Science Museum (CRO-2) to tell people and businesses his secrets for becoming unstuck.
The talk begins at 6:30 p.m. in the museum's auditorium downtown. It is free and open to the public.
One hour before and following his talk, Shulyak will be available to sign his books at the Otowi Station Science Museum Shop next to the museum, said Pat Berger of the museum, which is part of the Lab's Community Relations Office (CRO) .
Shulyak immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1975 and worked as an engineer at the Norton Co., a Worcester, Mass.-based worldwide manufacturer of abrasives, advanced ceramics, performance plastics and chemical process products. While there, Shulyak began his career as an inventor by designing several machines, one of which has survived 17 years without any changes, saving the company hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Berger.
In 1983, Shulyak founded Shel Industries with the goal of developing and marketing ideas in the area of consumer products. His first successful product was the Quick and Easy tape dispenser for scotch, masking, filament and packaging tapes. Over the next five years, he developed and marketed several inventions, including toys, a novel clothes dryer, the lighted screwdriver and a camping tent that allows campers to sleep on the roof of their car.
A year later, Shulyak started teaching engineers about the art of inventing and the science of technical creativity, using a Russian system, called "Theory of Inventive Problem Solving," or TRIZ. In 1992, he founded the Technical Innovation Center, also in Worcester, Mass.
His company translates books written in Russian by the founder of TRIZ, Genrikch Altshuller. Shulyak continues to teach the TRIZ method of creative thinking and consults with companies to develop new products and technology through the Altshuller Institute, which he founded.
Shulyak translated from Russian Altshuller's book ,"And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared," and, along with Steven Rodman, translated and edited another book by Altshuller titled "40 Principles -- TRIZ Keys to Technical Innovation." Both books will be available at the Otowi Station Science Museum Shop.
During his lecture, Shulyak will demonstrate how some elements of TRIZ work and how he used TRIZ in developing his inventions. After the presentation, attendees will receive one of Shulyak's tape dispensers, said Berger.
Berger said Shulyak's talk is of special interest to engineers facing technical contradictions or having problems resolving a technical problem. "But high school students, age 14 and older, or youths interested in science fair projects also will find useful tips and approaches to problem solving," said Berger.
Bradbury Science Museum is located at 15th Street and Central Avenue downtown. Museum hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
For more information, contact Berger at 5-0896.
--Steve Sandoval
The Española Ranger District currently is conducting prescribed fire operations along the Los Alamos fuelbreak, which runs from the bottom of Rendija Canyon, behind Arizona Avenue and onward toward the Los Alamos Reservoir. The ranger district plans to burn about 200 acres total by conducting several 10- to 30-acre prescribed fires spread out over this fall and winter, and spring 1999, to minimize the amount of smoke generated at any one time. Smoke will be visible in the wildland urban interface of the Jemez Mountains in the coming months. For more information, call 753-7331 or 7-5120. |
Notice issued regarding protecting Lab facilities from freeze damage
Facilities Engineering Services (FE-9) has issued a notice to facility managers reminding them to make sure they and their staff take the necessary measures to avoid facility damage caused by freezing. In December 1996, there were eight occurrences of frozen equipment at the Laboratory; in November 1997, the Laboratory suffered $3.2 million in damaged equipment caused by freezing and resultant flooding.
In response to these occurrences, FE-9 issued Criterion 401 Freeze Protection, which requires facility managers to develop and implement a freeze protection program by Nov. 25. Additional information is in the online notice at http://iosun.lanl.gov:1800/pdfs/ops/alerts/Notice0021.pdf on the Web (Adobe Acrobat required).
Effective Oct. 26, two changes will be made to Protection Technology Los Alamos procedures regarding security badges. If a badge is determined to be unacceptable for access into a security area, PTLA will invalidate the badge by punching a hole in the magnetic stripe and another hole in the picture. Examples of situations when this would be done include alteration, severe damage, change of facial appearance so substantial that the picture cannot be matched with the badge holder or reasonable suspicion that the badge displayed does not belong to the individual bearing it. Depending on the circumstances, the security officer will either confiscate the badge or return it to the badge holder with instructions to go to the Badge Office to obtain a new badge. Also, PTLA no longer will issue temporary badges outside of normal business hours to non-PTLA personnel. Laboratory employees and subcontractors are reminded to bring their security badge with them when working on Laboratory property after normal business hours. For more information on these changes, see a master management memo. |
Nominations sought for Fellows Prize for Outstanding Research in Science or Engineering
Policy: To reward outstanding research performed at the Laboratory that was published within the last 10 years and that has had a significant impact on its discipline or program.
Purpose: To recognize and stimulate high-quality investigations in science or engineering by Laboratory staff members and to encourage publication in appropriate journals, books or reports.
Eligibility: Nominees must be full-time employees of the Laboratory at the time of nomination. All staff members of the Laboratory are eligible, but Fellows and postdoctoral researchers are not eligible. The work may be classified or unclassified.
Prize Nomination: Nominations should be submitted to the coordinator or deputy coordinator of the Los Alamos Fellows, and statements of justification (two pages or less) and letters of support (not exceeding five) from leaders in the field, both internal and external, are desirable. All supporting material -- which should include the publications on which the nomination is based -- should focus strongly on that particular research and the contributions of the investigators. Nomination packages should be simple and brief.
Award Review Procedure: A review committee selected from the Fellows will be appointed by the coordinator of the Los Alamos Fellows. The committee will make the prize selections.
Number of Awards: The number of prizes in any given year will not exceed three.
Amount of Awards: The prize will carry a maximum award of $3,000 for each individual. An appropriate certificate will commemorate the award.
Granting the Prize: The Director will present the prize at a formal colloquium, during which the recipients will describe their research.
Nominations should be received on or before Nov. 2 by either J.B. Wilhelmy, coordinator of Laboratory Fellows, CST-11, Mail Stop J514, 5-3188, or by J.C. Solem, deputy coordinator of Laboratory Fellows, T-DO, Mail Stop B210, 7-3856.
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