Position: Engineer, Director, Owner, Founder, Field: Nanotechnology, nanomaterials, Organisation: Revolution Fibres.
I was very inquisitive about how things worked. I was encouraged by my parents and my grandfather to take things apart, and I used to regularly just pull things to pieces to see what made them tick and how they worked and then put them back together again. My creative upbringing helped me a lot with innovation.
Key skills for innovation
Simon thinks the following skills are important for working in innovation:
- Problem-solving
- Ability to think outside the square
- Drawing on experience
- Learning off others.
Background knowledge and experience
Innovation draws on a range of people with diverse knowledge and expertise. Each person involved contributes a unique knowledge and skill set, which is determined by their particular educational background, the range of experiences they are involved in through their work as well as their life outside of work.
The background knowledge and experience that has contributed to Simon’s unique knowledge and skill set for his current role at Revolution Fibres includes:
- engineering qualifications
- 20 years’ experience running his air filtration business, Safe New Zealand.
This article is based on information current in 2013.
