MT5003 Creativity & Innovation

Gary Lim's Creative Portfolio



Introduction

I am Gary Lim from Singapore. I have 7 years of working experiences as a regional field application engineer serving customers in S.E Asia. My customers are located in China, South Korea,India and Japan. I had completed my basic degree in Sydney Australia where I was awarded a first class honours in Computer Engineering from University of New South Wales. I am currently pursuing my part-time Masters of Technology in NUS.

Working Experiences

In my most recent employment, my hi-tech start-up company Oxford Semiconductor Inc. was acquired by a US NASDAQ listed company known as PLX technology. In a start-up company, I had many opportunities to participate in entrepreneurial activities that could not be possible in the corporate world.

Applying TRIZ to Office Renovation

During the first few months working with my company, I was tasked to setup first Singapore office with a budget. At that time, there are only few people in the office and I was reporting to a Regional Sales Director who was travelling every other day. As such, I was making decision such as office renovation and IT infrastructure. This has given me an opportunity to exercise my creativity beyond my normal job scope.

The office size was small at about 1000 square feet and it took about 1 month to complete the entire renovation. It involves discussion with contractors and making plans to ensure the office is setup properly. Eventually, the office was renovated with a slight over-budget due to some rework that needs to be done.

Two years later, the company's operation expanded and we moved the office to Science Park 2 and I was tasked to setup the office again and with much higher creativity and complexity.

This time, the Singapore Design Centre space is about 10 times larger and this time, the office is renovated within budget.

Creative thinking in Event Management

At times, I was also tasked with the role of organising company events such as team-building. In the most recent team-building event, I came up with an idea that helps to provide bonding between engineers, administration staff and the sales team. The game was known as egg-drop where each person is given an egg and will need to drop an egg at a height of 5 meters. Straws and glue are given as the basic material. Everybody enjoyed the game and it helped the team members to have great bonding.

Creative Thinking in Work

In another example of my creative idea was exhibited in customer support that helped the company to service customer and saved cost for the customer. This happened when I was helping LG Korea in their development of their Portable Media Player. There are many language barriers as I couldn't speak Korean and at the same time the Korea engineers could speak only very limited English.

However, I observed that they could read and write English very well. During the regular conference call, I made a request to their project manager to propose that we can do MSN text-based conference rather than tele-conference. The idea was initially rejected because there is a resistance to change. However, I exchanged my MSN contact with one of the engineers and the communication was so effective that we can get problems resolved much faster compared to the normal procedures. The project manager was impressed and during one of the lunch meeting I was praised and recommended.

Applying TRIZ Principles and Creativity in Daily Life

Another example I had exercised creative thinking in my work involves applying engineering principles into my daily life. In our lab area, there is very no internet coverage. Therefore, it is very difficult to work from the lab if internet connectivity is needed. Knowing that there is WIFI coverage in the office, I tried to connect to the WIFI network. However, the distance is too far away from the server room and signal quality is bad. After doing some research, I created a $5 solution by using a household metal filter and a USB extension cord connected with a WIFI dongle. The wire-mesh works well as an antenna where it effectively boosts the WIFI signal and it is much cheaper compared to re-wiring the lab or buying a very expensive antenna booster.

On the personal side, I am an outgoing person who enjoys travelling and photography. For photography, my favourite subject is my 2 years toddler who is my joy and pride.

This video has definitely limited coverage and if there are any further questions, I can be contacted at g0702839@nus.edu.sg.