How To Become A Successful Inventor In Nigeria — Profitability Of Inventions And Innovations

Image of open human head with various objects belongs to IPOwatchdog.com

By Kenneth Nwachinemelu David-Okafor

Welcome to the second installment of this post.

I know you are anxious to get to the end — so am I. Nonetheless first things should come first.

In truth, if you indeed have a “gripping” concept or idea, all your mind and attention would be concentrated on how to get it from your imagination and into your hands as soon as possible. Now that is completely understandable.

However as I signed off in the first blog: LET US NOT RUSH INTO ANYTHING. 

In this blog post I wish to expand on the potential and profitability of Inventing and inventions.

I completely understand if anybody is more anxious to satisfy themselves with the fact of having something of note attributed to their persons as achievement. There is absolutely nothing wrong with accomplishing bragging rights. But there is also profit and returns on investments to be considered, at individual and national levels.

Here I am even keener of the ramifications at the national level. Indeed, increasing her inventiveness and national inventive capacities is one of the ways by which Nigeria can turnaround the country’s economic and national development.

In a blog post, titled "Inventors, Inventions, Creativity, National Inventiveness and Nigerian Society" published in the NAIJAGRAPHITTI blog on February 24th, 2016, I noted that,

From the history of science and technology as well as other varieties of historical accounts from multiples sources, some of the most inventive and creative countries in the world have been driven by namely and not necessarily in any particular order: 1) personal ambition/vision; 2) environmental challenges; 3) territorial expansion/domination; 4) bid for high national competitiveness/competitive advantage; 5) intellectual property rights/advanced patent administration; 6) educational support; 7) policy support and 8) intentional government. …The importance of inventions include that inventions creates new industries, spurs innovation, fuels patents culture, creates employment and improves quality of life. Inventions can catapult the wealth of a nation.

Recall from the first installment of the series, I wrote,

There are numerous lists of the most important inventions and innovations which have most affected mankind compiled by several writers for several periods of human history. Whatever inventions make up the composition of any list is not as material as the fact that man has invested his creativity and innate ability to create devices that improve and facilitate his livelihood to great advantage.

In truth several of these inventions and innovations also involved increment of wealth.

How can inventions and innovations can catapult the wealth of a nation?

For this purpose I will step BEYOND Nigeria. And this is the thing: I WANT YOU TO CONSIDER THE WHOLE WORLD AS YOUR POTENTIAL AREA OF GATHERING MOTIVATION, IDEAS, INPUTS AND ANCILLARY RESOURCES FOR THIS VENTURE ON INVENTIVE THINKING, INVENTING AND INVENTIONS.

This is a healthy attitude to develop from the beginning; geography should be ruled out as a constraint in a globalized world!!!

I will refer to a time which economic historians and economists have agreed was crucial for global wealth increment of the past ¾ the Industrial Revolution. There is consensus that the major impact of the Industrial Revolution was that the standard of living for the general population began to increase consistently for the first time in history, although others have said that it did not begin to meaningfully improve until the late 19th and 20th centuries.

In the work "Inventions of the Industrial Revolution", edited by Noreen Gunnell, the author wrote,

One of the most important and productive periods of history was the Industrial Revolution. Many of the inventions made during this time make our everyday life possible. Below is a list of some of the most important. The Industrial Revolution was the period of time during the 18th and 19th centuries when the face of industry changed dramatically. These changes had a tremendous and long lasting impact on the economies of the world and the lives of the average person. There were hundreds of inventions during this time period. Below are a few of the most important: 1) Spinning Jenny - James Hargreaves developed the spinning jenny in 1764. This machine allowed workers to spin more wool at one time greatly increasing productivity. This invention was necessary for the industrialization of the textile industry; 2) Steam Engine - James Watt created the first truly reliable steam engine in 1775. Other, less efficient models had been developed in the 1600s. Watt’s version included a crankshaft and gears and is the foundation for modern steam engines. This invention made locomotives and many of the textile machines possible; 3) Power Loom - Edmund Cartwright invented the power loom in 1785. It dramatically changed the way cloth was woven by making it much easier. It would take almost another fifty years and several alterations by other inventors before it would become commonly used; 4) Cotton Gin - Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin (short for cotton engine) in 1794. Prior to the invention of the cotton gin, cotton seeds had to be removed from the cotton fiber by hand. This invention made cotton a much more profitable crop for farmers. With this invention, many more farmers turned to cotton as their main crop, greatly increasing the amount of cotton plantations in the South. These expanding farms needed cheap labor, which also resulted in an increased use of African slaves; 5) Telegraph - Samuel F. B. Morse created the telegraph in 1836. This invention changed the face of communication. Instant communication became possible between the east and west coasts and allowed people to know what was happening almost as it happened. This would revolutionize media and personal communication; 6) Sewing Machine - Elias Howe created the sewing machine in 1844. This forever changed the way clothes were made and allowed the mass production of clothing. Before this it was most common for women to make all of the clothes for their families. Only the very wealthy could afford to have a tailor or seamstress make custom clothing of the latest fashion. It was later improved upon and patented by Isaac Singer in 1855; 7) Internal Combustion Engine - Jean Lenoir invented the internal combustion engine in 1858. Eventually this engine was used in mass transportation; 8) Telephone - Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone in 1876. The telephone further improved communications and eventually led to the various communications devices used today; Phonograph - Thomas Edison created the phonograph in 1877. Prior to the creation of the phonograph the only option for entertainment was for live musicians or actors to perform. This allowed people to listen to music anywhere; 9) Airplane - Brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright created the first airplane in 1903. The ability to fly had long been a dream of the human race. Within a few decades planes had changed the face of personal and business travel and had dramatically altered warfare."

Image source: www.clker.com; Quote source: Researched from Edison Archives

Then from a review of history of the Industrial Revolution itself, the Encyclopaedia 2016 records,

The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This transition included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, improved efficiency of water power, the increasing use of steam power, the development of machine tools and the rise of the factory system. Textiles were the dominant industry of the Industrial Revolution in terms of employment, value of output and capital invested; the textile industry was also the first to use modern production methods.1:40

The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. . . .At approximately the same time the Industrial Revolution was occurring, Britain was undergoing an agricultural revolution, which also helped to improve living standards.

The Industrial Revolution began in the United Kingdom and most of the important technological innovations were British. Mechanized textile production spread to continental Europe in the early 19th century, with important centers in France. A major iron making center developed in Belgium. Since then industrialization has spread throughout the world. The precise start and end of the Industrial Revolution is still debated among historians, as is the pace of economic and social changes. GDP per capita was broadly stable before the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the modern capitalist economy, while the Industrial Revolution began an era of per-capita economic growth in capitalist economies. Economic historians are in agreement that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important event in the history of humanity since the domestication of animals and plants.

The First Industrial Revolution evolved into the Second Industrial Revolution in the transition years between 1840 and 1870, when technological and economic progress continued with the increasing adoption of steam transport (steam-powered railways, boats and ships), the large-scale manufacture of machine tools and the increasing use of machinery in steam-powered factories.

James Watt FRS FRSE (30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist whose Watt steam engine, an improvement of the Newcomen steam engine, was fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.

While working as an instrument maker at the University of Glasgow, Watt became interested in the technology of steam engines. He realized that contemporary engine designs wasted a great deal of energy by repeatedly cooling and reheating the cylinder. Watt introduced a design enhancement, the separate condenser, which avoided this waste of energy and radically improved the power, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of steam engines. Eventually he adapted his engine to produce rotary motion, greatly broadening its use beyond pumping water.

In 1781 James Watt patented a steam engine that produced continuous rotary motion. Watt's ten-horsepower engines enabled a wide range of manufacturing machinery to be powered. The engines could be sited anywhere that water and coal or wood fuel could be obtained. By 1883, engines that could provide 10,000 hp had become feasible. The stationary steam engine was a key component of the Industrial Revolution, allowing factories to locate where water power was unavailable. The atmospheric engines of Newcomen and Watt were large compared to the amount of power they produced, but high pressure steam engines were light enough to be applied to vehicles such as traction engines and the railway locomotives.

Watt attempted to commercialize his invention, but experienced great financial difficulties until he entered a partnership with Matthew Boulton in 1775. The new firm of Boulton and Watt was eventually highly successful and Watt became a wealthy man. In his retirement, Watt continued to develop new inventions though none was as significant as his steam engine work.

In 2009, a United States Television show  Nightly Business Report, the Emmy Award-winning PBS business program, and Knowledge@Wharton set out to answer determine which 30 innovations have changed life most dramatically during the past 30 years, to celebrate NBR’s 30th anniversary this year. NBR partnered with Knowledge@Wharton to create a list of the "Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years." The show’s audiences from more than 250 markets across the country and Knowledge@Wharton’s readers from around the world were asked to suggest innovations they think have shaped the world in the last three decades. After receiving some 1,200 suggestions — everything from lithium-ion batteries, LCD screens and eBay to the mute button, GPS and suitcase wheels — a panel of eight judges from Wharton reviewed and selected the top 30 of these innovations, which were revealed on air and online February 16, 2009.  The list published was as follows, in order of importance: 1) Internet, broadband, WWW (browser and html); 2) PC/laptop computers; 3) Mobile phones; 4) E-mail; 5) DNA testing and sequencing/Human genome mapping; 6) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI); 7) Microprocessors; 8) Fiber optics; 9) Office software (spreadsheets, word processors); 10) Non-invasive laser/robotic surgery (laparoscopy); 11) Open source software and services (e.g., Linux, Wikipedia); 12) Light emitting diodes; 13) Liquid crystal display (LCD); 14) GPS systems; 15) Online shopping/ecommerce/auctions (e.g., eBay); 16) Media file compression (jpeg, mpeg, mp3); 17) Microfinance; 18) Photovoltaic Solar Energy; 19) Large scale wind turbines; 20) Social networking via the Internet; 21) Graphic user interface (GUI); 22) Digital photography/videography; 23) RFID and applications (e.g., EZ Pass); 24) Genetically modified plants; 25) Bio fuels; 26) Bar codes and scanners; 27) ATMs; 28) Stents; 29) SRAM flash memory; and 30) Anti-retroviral treatment for AIDS. Before the winners could be selected from the vast number of entries, the Wharton judges first had to define what innovation means in an age dominated by digital technology, medical advancements and mobile communications.

I will close this post with this quote from Woodford.

Chris Woodford wrote in Inventors and inventions that,

Think of inventions in the 19th century and you'll come across lone inventors like Charles Goodyear, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George Eastman (of Kodak)—and many more like them. But think of inventing in the 20th and 21st century and you'll come across inventive corporations instead—such companies as DuPont (the chemical company that gave us nylon, Teflon®, Kevlar®, Nomex®, and many more amazing synthetic materials), Bell Labs (where transistors, solar cells, lasers, CD players, digital cellphones, commercial fax machines, and CCD light sensors were developed), and 3M (pioneers of Scotchgard textile protector and Post-It® Notes, to name only two of their best-known products). It was Thomas Edison who transformed the world of inventing, from lone inventors to inventive corporations, when he established the world's first ever invention "factory" at Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876.

These days, corporations dominate our world, and they dominate the world of inventing in exactly the same way. If it's your dream to become a great inventor, go for it and good luck to you—but be prepared to take on some very stiff, very well-funded, corporate competition."

TO BE CONTINUED