3.  To learn the system of science and technology from a practical viewpoint
       (Effects Module: Part 1. Effects and Examples)

Next, let us examine the science and technology database implemented in
[TechOptimizer Pro] (or treated in TRIZ).  We want to know which areas the software
tool supports and which others not.  We also would like to expand our own understanding
of technology through this work.  The TRIZ way of classifying the science and
technology suggests us a new approach  to practical problem solving, in contrast to the
conventional "academic" way of understanding science and technology.

[Operation:  By opening the [Effects Module], we have the display of the [Function].  At
moment we should skip all the main functions of this display and just try to access the
database containing various technical principles (i.e. "Effects" in TRIZ).  If we simply
click the [Effects database], there appears a list of 521 "Effects" grouped into only three
categories (i.e. physical, chemical, and geometrical) and arranged inside in the
alphabetical order.  This is of no use to understand the area classification.  So, instead,
we should open the [Database] menue in the menue bar at the top, and click the [Effects
Sorted by Groups] command. ]

In the display of [Groups of Effects], there are 109 groups of technical principles
("Effects") arranged in the alphabetical order.  Each group contains from 3 to nearly 50
specific technical principles ("Effects"); but there are many Effects assigned to multiple
groups, and also some not relevant so much to the group.  Figure 3.1 shows an example
display which is obtained by clicking the [Phase transition of the first kind] group in the
[Group of effects] display.  At the lower part of the display, the group description is
briefly given.

Fig. 3.1   An example of display of [Groups of effects] in the [Effects Module]

After selecting an Effect in the dispaly like Fig. 3.1, you may doule click it (or press the
[View] button); then the explanation of the Effect is displayed, as shown in Fig. 3.2.
The explanation contains one illustration and some text of 1 to 3 scrolls of display
together with references; the explanation is concise and easy to understand.  The example
shown in Fig. 3.2 is the display of the Effect [heat pipe thermal superconductivity]; it
shows the technical principle of a heat pipe used for thermal exchange such as cooling.

Fig. 3.2  An example of the [View effect] display in the [Effects Module]:
                  Super-thermal conductivity by using the heat pipe

In the [Groups of effects] display shown in Fig. 3.1, you may select an Effect and then
press the [Example] button to see a list of technical examples using the Effect; then you
may double click an example to read its detail.  Fig. 3.3 is the display of the example
[Device for Epitaxy] which uses the principle of the heat pipe (actually, this example was
obtained through a related effect [Effects of heat pipe condenser isothermicity]).  This
example uses the principle that the low-temperature part, i.e. condenser part, of the heat
pipe has a uniform temperature and is useful to cool a wide area of a silicon wafer
uniformly in an epitaxy equipment.  By reading this sort of concrete examples, you may
realize that the effect can be applied to a system quite different from the one in the
example.

Fig. 3.3   An example of the [View example] display in the [Effects Module]:
                 Epitaxy equipment (uniform cooling of a wide area by use of a heat pipe)

It is of much interest for us users to know what range of technical fields the
[TechOptimizer Pro] software tool actually handles with and what kind of effects it
implements.  For examining these points, the present author tried to classify the 109
groups in the [Groups of Effects] in a meaningful way.  A hierarchical classification table
thus obtained is shown in Table 3.1.  The top level of the classified table of the [Groups
of Effects] of [TechOptimizer Pro] is composed as follows:

     A.  Mathematics
     B.  Mechanical
     C.  Thermal
     D.  Optical and electromagnetic wave
     E.  Electrical
     F.  Magnetic and electromagnetic
     G.  Substances and material
     H.  Interaction between substances and "Fields"
     I.  Chemical
     J.  Elementary particles

Through the classification of the groups of effects, the following points are revealed:

(a)  Almost all the areas related to physics are covered in the software:  they include
mechanical, thermal, optical, electrical, magnetic and electro-magnetic, elementary
particles, substances, and interactions between substances and "Fields".

(b)  In chemistry, only basic areas are covered:  i.e. chemical, substances and materials.

(c)  The effects, even in physics, are described not theoretically but practically for
applications and its basis.  (Scientific theories are not described.)

(d)  In relation to the above standing point, the software puts much weights on the
description of interactions between substances/materials of various states and
characteristics and various "Fields", including conversions of the "Fields".

(e)  Description of each Effect is concise.  From the eyes of specialists in its specific
area, the description covers only basic and well-known facts.  But for specialists in other
areas and for ordinary non-specialist engineers, the description summarizes the Effects
and their background technologies in a way appropriate and easy to read.

(f)  The software tool [TechOptimizer Pro] rarely handles with the fields of medicine,
biology, biological substances, and genetic information.

(g)  The software tool does not handle with the areas of software information processing
and of services.

The coverage area revealed above reflects the history of development of the TRIZ
methodology; it will certaily be expanded in the future.  It should be important for us to
extend the TRIZ methodology itself to the new areas, such as those mentioned above in
(f) and (g).

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Last updated on Feb. 25, 1999.     Access point:  Editor: nakagawa@utc.osaka-gu.ac.jp