Daniel Torres 

 May 10 , 2017 

 Design Thinking for Innovation 

 Learning Launch 

 Challenge   I am currently an R&D engineer for a company that manufactures pressure sensitive   adhesive ( PSA ) tape to be used in industrial applications .   My job is to work with   customers to understand their unique challenges and create a customized solution to fit   their needs .   A project I am currently working on requires a PSA tape that can bond well   to a particular substrate and then withstand the conditions of the final environment in   which it will be applied without failing .   The product must pass numerous adhesion ,   temperature , and stress tests but must also be 15 % cheaper than our current products   used for this application .   I ’ve been given 4 - 5 months to solve this problem or the   customer will begin using a competitive material .   I am tasked with completing this   project on my own but will have the support of the sales team once I ’ve created a   solution .     Selection   I had worked to gather relevant information from the customer and had successfully   created a working prototype .   I planned to send the prototype to the customer to receive   their feedback on the product ’s performance .   I chose the learning launch tool for my   challenge so that I could quickly test my prototype in the market and receive useful   feedback .   I hoped to make any necessary changes to the prototype based on that   feedback .     Application   I sent the prototype to the customer for the first learning launch and allowed them to   fully evaluate the product .   I performed testing in our laboratory but I wanted to see how   the product performed when used in the customer ’s process .   This learning launch   tested both our product construction as well as how easily it could be integrated into the   customer ’s process .   After the customer evaluated the product I traveled to their facility   to discuss the learning launch and documented their feedback in order to make the   necessary changes .   The customer did not see the same performance that I did in my   laboratory tests .   After a short discussion it was determined that the difference in   process conditions was most likely the cause of the decreased performance .     I made some small changes to the prototype to better accommodate the customer ’s   unique process conditions and sent them the new material for the second learning   launch .   This time I was hoping to focus on the customer ’s process conditions and how   we could optimize the conditions in order to mirror the performance seen in the lab .   Fortunately , I was permitted to travel to the customer and assist them in testing the   material .   We found that by changing the temperature at which the customer processed   the material we were able to get the same performance seen in the lab . 

 Insight    Using the learning launch tool I was able to quickly and cheaply test my prototype and   ultimately improve the design in order to create a product that satisfied the customer .    By using the tool I was able to travel to the customer and witness their process which   had a dramatic impact on the success of the project .   If I had not seen their process I   would n’t have been able to make the right recommendations and may have lost the   customer ’s business all together .     Approach   If I had the opportunity to do the project differently I would most likely utilize the   visualization tool early in the project .   If I was better able to visualize the prototype and   how it would be used in the customer ’s process then I feel the project would ’ve gone   much smoother .   I think I might have seen some of the obstacles associated with their   process and could ’ve been more prepared for them during the first learning launch .   I   think ultimately the best path would have been to visit the customer ’s facility before any   of the design began to get a better understanding of the problem . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: Daniel Torres
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Daniel Torres 

 May 10 , 2017 

 Design Thinking for Innovation 

 Learning Launch 

 Challenge   I am currently an R&D engineer for a company that manufactures pressure sensitive   adhesive ( PSA ) tape to be used in industrial applications .   My job is to work with   customers to understand their unique challenges and create a customized solution to fit   their needs .   A project I am currently working on requires a PSA tape that can bond well   to a particular substrate and then withstand the conditions of the final environment in   which it will be applied without failing .   The product must pass numerous adhesion ,   temperature , and stress tests but must also be 15 % cheaper than our current products   used for this application .   I ’ve been given 4 - 5 months to solve this problem or the   customer will begin using a competitive material .   I am tasked with completing this   project on my own but will have the support of the sales team once I ’ve created a   solution .     Selection   I had worked to gather relevant information from the customer and had successfully   created a working prototype .   I planned to send the prototype to the customer to receive   their feedback on the product ’s performance .   I chose the learning launch tool for my   challenge so that I could quickly test my prototype in the market and receive useful   feedback .   I hoped to make any necessary changes to the prototype based on that   feedback .     Application   I sent the prototype to the customer for the first learning launch and allowed them to   fully evaluate the product .   I performed testing in our laboratory but I wanted to see how   the product performed when used in the customer ’s process .   This learning launch   tested both our product construction as well as how easily it could be integrated into the   customer ’s process .   After the customer evaluated the product I traveled to their facility   to discuss the learning launch and documented their feedback in order to make the   necessary changes .   The customer did not see the same performance that I did in my   laboratory tests .   After a short discussion it was determined that the difference in   process conditions was most likely the cause of the decreased performance .     I made some small changes to the prototype to better accommodate the customer ’s   unique process conditions and sent them the new material for the second learning   launch .   This time I was hoping to focus on the customer ’s process conditions and how   we could optimize the conditions in order to mirror the performance seen in the lab .   Fortunately , I was permitted to travel to the customer and assist them in testing the   material .   We found that by changing the temperature at which the customer processed   the material we were able to get the same performance seen in the lab . 

 Insight    Using the learning launch tool I was able to quickly and cheaply test my prototype and   ultimately improve the design in order to create a product that satisfied the customer .    By using the tool I was able to travel to the customer and witness their process which   had a dramatic impact on the success of the project .   If I had not seen their process I   would n’t have been able to make the right recommendations and may have lost the   customer ’s business all together .     Approach   If I had the opportunity to do the project differently I would most likely utilize the   visualization tool early in the project .   If I was better able to visualize the prototype and   how it would be used in the customer ’s process then I feel the project would ’ve gone   much smoother .   I think I might have seen some of the obstacles associated with their   process and could ’ve been more prepared for them during the first learning launch .   I   think ultimately the best path would have been to visit the customer ’s facility before any   of the design began to get a better understanding of the problem .
### Output: 