Open source interactive textbook on computational design
A team of IDE educators have contributed to the TUD Open Interactive Textbook Project with their open source textbook Computational design for (industrial) designers using Rhino Grasshopper. The interactive book is intended for students both at BSc and MSc level and focusses on the use of computational design to create human-centred, personalised products. It offers an introduction, and more advanced knowledge base by way of short videos, structured lessons, and links to more information and helpful resources.
The book is used in “Prototyping with/for Digital Fabrication” (from the IDE Minor Advanced Prototyping), the IDE MSc elective “Computational Design”, and is available as an open resource for students who are not in these courses.
The book was written and edited by Willemijn Elkhuizen, Anne van den Dool, and Jose Martinez Castro, with contributions from Zjenja Doubrovski, Toon Huysmans, Mehmet Ozdemir, and Wolf Song, and with support from Dieter van Dortmont and Niels van Silfhout (teaching assistants).
The creation of the book was funded through the Open Education Stimulation Fund (2022) by the Open Education program of TU Delft, and published under the TUD Open, Interactive Textbook Project.
TUD Open Interactive Textbook Project
The project platform currently hosts ten books on various technical topics from authors across the TU Delft. It utilises Jupyter Books software, which allows for the creation of website-like books, containing features like internal and external referencing, adaptable lay-out, flexible formatting and seamlessly integrated interactive elements like video content or code. Educators can contact the platform if they are interested in publishing their own interactive textbook.