Knowvention Terms of Use Agreement

Welcome to our website. If you continue to browse and use this website, you are agreeing to comply with and be bound by the following terms and conditions of use, which together with our privacy policy govern Knowvention’s relationship with you in relation to this website. If you disagree with any part of these terms and conditions, please do not use our website.

The term ‘Knowvention’ or ‘us’ or ‘we’ refers to the owner of the Knowvention website.  The term ‘you’ refers to the user or viewer of our website.

The use of this website is subject to the following terms of use:

1. The content of the pages of this website is for your general information and use only. It is subject to change without notice.
2. This website uses cookies to monitor browsing preferences. If you do allow cookies to be used, the following personal information may be stored by us for use by third parties: [insert list of information].
3. Neither we nor any third parties provide any warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, timeliness, performance, completeness or suitability of the information and materials found or offered on this website for any particular purpose. You acknowledge that such information and materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law.
4. Your use of any information or materials on this website is entirely at your own risk, for which we shall not be liable. It shall be your own responsibility to ensure that any products, services or information available through this website meet your specific requirements.
5. This website contains material which is owned by or licensed to us. This material includes, but is not limited to, the design, layout, look, appearance and graphics. Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice, which forms part of these terms and conditions.
6. All trademarks reproduced in this website, which are not the property of, or licensed to the operator, are acknowledged on the website.
7. Unauthorised use of this website may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offense.
8. From time to time, this website may also include links to other websites. These links are provided for your convenience to provide further information. They do not signify that we endorse the website(s). We have no responsibility for the content of the linked website(s).

Why Knowvention?

At Knowvention we build lasting relationships with our clients through proven success.  The drive to reduce time to market and selectively increase the speed of innovation and product development cycles is high risk and can lead to defects in products.  Knowvention understands the importance of getting to market not just fast but accurately, with minimum risk, and without flaws. Defects detected by end users of your products cause damage to your brand.  Knowvention helps customers avoid defects early in the innovation and product development process. Knowvention helps take the Risk out of the Innovation, every step of the way.

Customer Benefits

• Better Products
• Lower Risk
• Reduce Time to Market
• Eliminate Errors
• Saving You Money

Learn More about our Processes and Techniques with these links

• Virtual Product Development (VPD)
• Innovation Process Techniques

Helping companies Innovate

Knowvention has a simple definition of Innovation.

"Ask the Right Questions, that Nobody Else Is, then find the Best Answers." ^TM

The Right Tools...The Right Hands...The Right Answers!

Ideas are easy.  Answers are difficult!  You need ways to lead the market, to deliver new and improved products to your customers.  We understand value-driven product design and have a passion for helping companies develop products quickly, efficiently and effectively.

Knowvention specializes in solving unique and difficult product challenges.  Adept at working on the “Fuzzy Front End” of innovation we demonstrate our ability to integrate knowledge across a wide array of stakeholder needs.  We get you what you need not just what you ask for.

At Knowvention we don't "Think Out of the Box" we “Build a Bigger Box!" That "Bigger Box" is an expansion of the knowledge and capabilities necessary to drive decisions.  Knowvention also applies expertise in a wide array of tools along with broad product experience to any idea or problem.  This makes us fast and flexible and produces greater insight into the solution space for the answers to your difficult questions.  These insights lead to knowledge that can be leveraged over time, from idea to sales, building brands that matter.

Knowvention's ability to develop and utilize knowledge helps us solve your toughest challenges, keeping you on the leading edge of innovation.

For Fortune 500 Companies and individual inventors alike we can help take YOUR ideas from Paper to Product!

Contact us today to learn how Knowvention can partner with you

Driving Innovation through Proven Processes

Over the past 30 years, leading companies all over the world have discovered that the product development process is as important as the product itself.

Business sustainability and growth, whether you sell products or services, requires three key elements:

VALUE    -   QUALITY    -    INNOVATION

VALUE attracts customers, QUALITY earns respect, and INNOVATION differentiates you from the competition.

When organizations effectively integrate these three elements into their product, they will all but guarantee sustainability and growth.  There are several well known methodologies that drive VALUE and ensure QUALITY being used by virtually all organizations using twenty-first century best practices.

INNOVATION, however, is far more elusive and typically less structured.  Many times organizations rely on simple brainstorming and a select few "creative individuals" to bring forth innovation.  Edicts, and "Slogans" to "inspire innovation" are simply not enough to effectively compete.  Innovation, without a systematic approach, will only occur in fits and starts and never be something that reliably and repeatedly delivers consistent growth and profits.  Knowvention understands this and can offer techniques that set you on the path to sustainable innovation practices.

Learn best practices in the front end of Product Development including:

• Techniques to understand current and future customer needs
• Observational Methods and best practices
• Interview methods and best practices
• VOC/ QFD (Voice of Customer / Quality Function Deployment)
• Kano Model
• CAGE Model
• TRIZ
• And several more

Systematic Innovation Best Practices (Psychological and Technological approaches)

• Problem Solving (8 methods)
• Idea Generation (20 methods)

Webinars or Classroom training scheduled for your convenience

• Executive awareness
• Workshops
• Train-the-Trainer
• Coaching

Contact us for more detail on these services.

Expert Witness Services to Review, Advise and Testify

Knowvention offers expert witnesses for product liability with expertise in consumer products, medical devices, commercial manufacturing and product testing. These experts are prepared to address issues surrounding defect and failures as well as monetary losses or industries.

Expert analysis can provide information on product labeling, hazardous products, warning and recalls or assist you in determining the causes of component or product failure. Forensic engineering techniques and reconstruction are utilized to determine root causes and measure processes against industry standards.

Utilizing advanced tools coupled with broad knowledge and experience, Knowvention's engineers and technical experts can provide simulations, animations and illustrations to share the story behind the technical jargon.

Knowvention Provides:

• Expert Testimony
• Product liability investigation
• Failure Analysis
• Root Cause Determination
• Technical due diligence
• Patent Infringement
• Patent review and analysis

Technical Reviews Help Make Your Funding Search a Success

Inventors often seek outside investors to provide the funding behind their ideas. That requires putting your ideas on paper and presenting a workable strategy, approach and plan for bringing your idea to market.

At Knowvention, we can assist you in preparing the necessary documentation and descriptions to properly represent your project and present it in its best light. Proven product developers lend credibility to your team and your project. Investors are seeking opportunities that include well-reasoned and planned product development processes and techniques.

Knowvention can be a part of your team and serve this vital role, reassuring investors and providing guidance and stability to your process.

Contact us with your questions and let us see how we can help provide detailed knowledge to give your company a competitive advantage.

Knowvention Supports Design Reviews as Independent Experts

We work to ensure that formal documented reviews of the design results are planned and conducted at appropriate stages of the device's design development.

We are experienced with multiple Device Classes I, II, and III, 510k or PMA and can support you with the following areas as an independent advisor:

• Design Controls
• Design Input
• Design Output
• Design Review
• Design Verification
• Design Validation
• Design Transfer

Knowvention Helps Protect Your Innovation

Many Inventors start this process by going to a patent attorney, but they should begin with an Engineer. Before you spend filing fees and pay a lawyer for an incomplete idea, Knowvention offers services to ensure your idea is complete and ready for the patent office.

Knowvention practices engineering with Intellectual Property development ever in mind. We are adept at synthesizing prior art concerns up front in the process so that tricky patents don’t become a problem too late in the game.

Our in depth use of multiple methodologies for gaining insight into just how things work and our ability to gain control over critical parameters leads to breakthrough solutions that change the game for our customers.  Superior solutions are what create barriers to entry and make it all worth while.

Knowvention can help clients, big and small, answer some fundamental questions:

• Why should you patent your idea, is there a market?
• When should you apply for a patent?
• What are you patenting?
• Is your idea really new?
• Will it work like you think it will?

Contact us today to discuss what Knowvention can do for you

Knowvention delivers Answers not just Analysis.

Decisions made early in a product's lifecycle have profound influence on it's success or failure. Accurate knowledge at this stage offers the greatest power in delivering innovation while reducing time and cost.

To make the best decisions, you need access to the best tools and personnel to develop accurate knowledge around your product or process.  You need a complete solution.

Knowvention is that complete solution – a combination of technology, advanced development techniques and experts who have a proven record of innovation – to help you develop winning answers to your most demanding questions.

Whether serving as consultants or as an integrated part of your product development team, our experts look at the big picture along with our client’s vision and goals to help ensure all decisions drive toward delivery of timely, real-world business solutions that get superior products to the marketplace.

Knowvention Experts have served in a variety of industries:

• Medical Devices
• Consumer Products
• Food Industry
• Power Tools
• Transportation
• Aerospace
• Materials

Founder and President of Knowvention

As the Founder and President of Knowvention, Kevin Harper has a Vision to offer world-class engineering and technology expertise to Fortune 500 companies, Small and Mid-sized businesses, Entrepreneurs, and Individual Inventors.

With more than 38 years of experience in product development, Kevin brings a well-rounded, problem-solving approach to every project. Using the latest technology in virtual product development, Kevin offers proven techniques that save R&D time and budgets while delivering real-world solutions.

Kevin has worked in product development and engineering roles for Fortune 500 companies with products in medical devices and transportation. He excelled in those positions and is a Johnson & Johnson Standards of Leadership Award winner. He holds 23 US and foreign patents and applications with multiple patent publications.  He has demonstrated product innovation results across multiple industries on a wide array of projects.

Kevin was co-founder and co-chair of the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Office of Science and Technologies’ Computational Methods & Simulation subcommittee. This subcommittee helped develop advanced simulation technology and processes for Johnson & Johnson's family of companies.  The group spanned multiple sectors including consumer, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals and Kevin provided internal consulting across these J&J companies.

Kevin's Virtual Prototyping and Simulation experience includes advanced analytical techniques and applications involving:

• Biomechanics
• Dynamics
• Contact Mechanics
• Coupled Physics
• Tissue Modeling
• Computer-aided Design

Kevin holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and earned a Master’s Degree in Engineering Mechanics/Biomechanics from the University of Cincinnati, where he is now an adjunct professor teaching Introduction to Biotechnology. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and is a Registered Professional Engineer (PE) with the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and Ohio Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE).

Utilizing the best tools for your project

Successful innovations require the marriage of knowledgeable and experienced engineers to the best tools available. That’s why Knowvention engineers believe clients shouldn’t be tied to a specific Computer Aided Design - CAD - or Computer Aided Engineering - CAE - software program.  We believe that each of these tools has their purposes, and we have experience with the leading industry programs.

For clients who have already made a technology investment, we are prepared to utilize existing CAD and or CAE software and maximize its effectiveness for your project.  For companies and individuals who do not have a preference for the development platform, we recommend an approach based on your projects needs and the strengths and weaknesses of the available tools.

Knowvention has experience with the following Computer Aided Engineering and Design (CAE and CAD) tools:

• Ls-Dyna
• Abaqus
• Ansys
• Comsol Multiphysics
• Tecplot
• Working Model
• IDEAS
• NX
• SolidWorks