Crowdsourcing Engineering for Energy Solutions

Ralph Muehlheisen gave the 2016 conversation its clearest boundary: “just putting up a crowdsourcing site and getting ideas doesn't necessarily solve the problem”.

He was describing JUMP, a Department of Energy program that connected industry challenges with people who might approach them from outside the usual group. The website opened the door. The difficult work happened around it.

Translate the challenge for people outside the room

Ralph Muehlheisen said a sponsor might understand the problem internally without explaining it in a way that a material scientist, businessperson, independent inventor, or other outside participant could use.

The intermediary's first job was to work with the sponsor and express the challenge clearly enough for different kinds of solvers to engage it. A vague invitation could attract ideas without giving those ideas a fair connection to the actual need.

Review and privacy are part of participation

Ralph Muehlheisen described a review layer that could help set judging rules, evaluate submissions, and recommend that no award be made when nothing met the need. He also described a private submission route for someone who wanted the sponsor to see an idea without posting it publicly.

The program team filtered submissions that were abusive or scientifically unsound. It could also help a promising contributor explain an idea more clearly.

During the 2016 conversation, I summarized those roles as “filter, buffer, and support”.

The useful support continued after the idea arrived

Ralph Muehlheisen described technical assistance, energy modeling, testing, vouchers, grants, and accelerator support that could help selected contributors develop an idea further. In his explanation, those services could matter more than a small cash award.

Ralph's 2016 description did not assume that every supported idea would reach the market. Selection began the next stage of work. Evaluation, testing, and a connection to the next resource still had to be designed.

Define the path before opening the call

Before inviting outside ideas, identify who will clarify the challenge, screen submissions, handle private material, and decide what support is available after selection. Then make those roles visible to the sponsor and participants.

This does not guarantee a useful result. It prevents the website from being mistaken for the full innovation process.

Openness needs a route to a decision

An open call can widen the group of people who see a problem. It cannot determine whether an idea is relevant, safe to share, technically sound, or ready for testing.

The decision is whether the organization has built a responsible route from invitation to evaluation and from evaluation to the next supported step. Without that route, the site collects possibilities. With it, the sponsor can decide which possibility deserves more work.