Creative optimism

Kicinger, R. and Arciszewski, T. (2009). Bio-inspired computational framework for enhancing creativity, optimality and robustness in design. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 23(1), 22-23. 

The goal of this chapter is to provide semirealistic design and optimization exercises. Design is a creative endeavor that combines elements of art and science. It is hoped that the examples presented here will provide some appreciation of the creative process. 

The best process means the optimal one. It is difficult to optimize the process under conditions of incomplete knowledge. Finding the optimum not only requires the necessary data but also creativity to compose the most promising version of an almost infinite number of processes leading to the desired productfs). 

To better understand the critical role of oligosaccharide-receptor interactions and their molecular mechanisms through the cluster-effect, and thus access optimized synthetic ligands, several research groups have shown creativity in proposing original multivalent platforms that could allow for tailored valencies, dimensions, and epitope orientations. 

Pressure-relieving systems are unique compared with other systems within a chemical plant hopefully they will never need to operate, but when they do, they must do so flawlessly. Other systems, such as extraction and distillation systems, usually evolve to their optimum performance and reliability. This evolution requires creativity, practical knowledge, hard work, time, and the cooperative efforts of the plant, design, and process engineers. This same effort and creativity is essential when developing relief systems however, in this case the relief system development must be optimally designed and demonstrated within a research environment before the plant start-up. 

A good design is both art and science. Creativity is needed to come up with a product concept that has either not been considered before or has been considered and abandoned. Discipline is needed to investigate and evaluate all the details to make sure that they fit together, which is an exercise in multiscale optimization the product structure is in the molecular scale of nanometers to micrometers, the process equipment is in centimeter to meter scales, marketing and finance are played in the meter to hundred kilometer scales, and environmental concerns are on a global scale. 

Optimization of the array of pharmacokinetic parameters necessary for the production of an effective new drug is undoubtedly an onerous task. For every drug commercially available an optimum balance has already been achieved in the physicochemical properties of the drug. What is needed is an approach to unravel the information held within these structures and to assimilate the information into subsequent studies, without stifling the creativity of development scientists. 

Creative individuals often dream up certain solutions, products offantasy that question conventional wisdom. However, dreaming must not be the sole activity and should not impede the ability to make specific decisions when required. Optimism, is also a notable characteristic of the creative scientist, believing that there might be a solution , where the pessimist would rather say, there might not be a solution . 

Successful perfumers represent a rather wide range of personality types, but is seems fair to say that a balanced disposition is optimal (1) a predilection for the patient, persistent, and essentially lonely effort that the creation of a fragrance requires, balanced by the gregariousness needed for the give-and-take that is at the heart of a successful team effort (2) the reliance upon the perfumer s own aesthetic intuitions in their pursuit of the creative effort, tempered by a sensitivity toward the expectations of clients and consumers who may have very different tastes and (3) the high standards and perfectionism that it takes to create fragrances of exceptional quality, coupled with the realism needed to live within the limitations inherent in nearly every practical assignment. 

The optimal condition for prompting creativity is to have a defined problem in mind that is stated in familiar terms—at least this was the assumption made at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Menlo Park, where qualifying volunteers were given mescaline. The results were that many of the subjects were able to solve artistic and technical problems after a single session. 

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