The modern-day version of Willy Wortel (known in English as Gyro Gearloose, the brilliant but absent-minded inventor featured in Donald Duck cartoons) is not an old fellow, but a clean-shaven man in his thirties. He does not invent alone in his attic, but works at a large company.
Those are the preliminary Dutch results of the PatVal questionnaire (Value of European Patents), a survey of the factors that determine whether an invention will lead to a valuable innovation. The survey is also performed in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Over two thousand inventors were contacted in the Netherlands.
The results are hardly surprising. The average inventor is a man (98%) in his thirties at the time of the invention and has graduated from university (51%). Almost one third (31%) have graduated from a HBO institute (vocational education). Most inventors have studied a technological field, such as mechanical engineering (23%) or chemical technology (22%).
Only six percent of the inventors work independently. A mere four percent work at universities and three percent work at public research institutes. The majority (64%) work at a large company of more than 250 employees. Another indication that the classic inventor, in the sense of the eccentric Gyro Gearloose, has all but disappeared is that most inventors (84%) indicate that interaction with colleagues is important during the invention process.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
