Methodologies utilized in research and product development have little in common. While the former thrives on freethinking and innovative creation, the latter is more dependent on a structured process. A culture shift is required from a purely knowledge-driven academic environment to a commercial research environment that is more sensitive to budget and schedule constraints. In spite of these differences, systems engineering practices may be applied to research, helping the teams to produce favourable results. This paper presents a case study related to the research phase of a commercial product development project in the biotechnology sector. The challenges in the research phase of the commercial project were handled through standard systems engineering practices, with new interpretations of established methodologies. Application of systems engineering practices significantly improved the rate of progress, produced a high level of stakeholder satisfaction and improved confidence in the results, thus indicating that systems engineering methodologies have a valid place in the research realm.
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