Hypios offers companies (called “seekers”) a secure website where they can formulate and publish R&D problems and reach out to a global community of “solvers”: engineers, scientists and other experts in the Hypios network. The idea is that seekers offer monetary rewards for the right solution and solvers compete to find the best solution and win the reward.

In a revolutionary technology plant, iron ore is converted into pure iron by hydrogen reduction. The case describes the process flow, including flow diagrams, mass balances, yields, and equipment uptimes. The case then describes the fixed and variable cost structure of labor, material and equipment, resulting in an analysis of the plant economics.

The two companies started in 1995 to develop a new breakthrough technology for converting iron ore into pure iron. The project was extremely challenging because of complexity (a three-way joint venture involving three countries) and uncertainty (new technology posing unforeseeable complications). The case describes the difficulties to make the technology work.

The two companies started in 1995 to develop a new breakthrough technology for converting iron ore into pure iron. The project was extremely challenging because of complexity (a three-way joint venture involving 3 countries) and uncertainty (new technology posing unforeseeable complications). The case describes the difficulties to make the technology work.

The case describes the development of a new analgesic (painkiller) drug for the German subsidiary of a large Swiss pharmaceutical company. Development was successfully completed by a dedicated unit, and the drug gained a large market share quickly after launch.

The case describes a car development project falling behind schedule because of engineering changes in the design of the body stamping dies. The engineering changes can be traced to the parallel execution of several engineering activities.