Item 1 of 1

Delft Design Stories

24 October 2024

Including residents in energy hubs could solve energy poverty

Wind turbines, solar panels, batteries. We are producing, consuming and distributing energy more locally. This offers opportunities to solve challenges like energy poverty. “But if we want to create just, fair, and successful energy hubs, we must make them understandable and relevant for everyone," says researcher Abhigyan Singh.

09 November 2017

'A conversation about informal care always feels premature, until it is too late...'

'You think to yourself: we'll do that over the Christmas holidays, or on a rainy day. Inevitably, however, you end up too busy doing other things.' Talking to your parents in a timely manner about their care situation in the future is very difficult. But it is important, as a lot of things can come at the same time when parents suddenly need care. Researcher Eefje Ernst designed and tested a method that helps families and informal caregivers on this front.

12 October 2017

Supporting heart patients with sensors and data

The idea of setting up a research program with Philips Design and the Hartstichting (Dutch Heart Foundation) to improve efficiency in care and prevention for patients with cardiovascular disease began just over two years ago. Last summer the ‘CardioLab’ was launched. Maaike Kleinsmann is director and lead researcher at the lab. Her goals with Cardiolab are ambitious.

26 September 2017

Can things design things?

All objects that we use on a daily basis are connected to each other and designers should be conscious of that. That’s the point of departure of the Connected Everyday Lab of Elisa Giaccardi, Professor and Chair of Interactive Media Design. She studied philosophy in Turin (Italy), but soon found herself immersed in the world of new media, interaction and design.

11 July 2017

‘Service design without technology is no longer an option’

Dirk Snelders is professor of Organising Product and Service Development. At IDE his research focuses primarily on the future of service design. In 2011 he published articles with PhD student Fernando Secomandi about the essence of service design in the academic journal Design Issues. The article was received with moderate enthusiasm internationally. But as it turns out, Snelders was years ahead of his time.

21 June 2017

'Medical consultations should be like a symphony orchestra'

It took IDE alumnus Jesse Beem some time to get used to being the only Delft engineer among the doctors and medical researchers at VU University Medical Centre Amsterdam (VUmc). He designs and modifies special meeting rooms in which doctors from various medical specialisms can consult with each other as efficiently as possible before deciding on a patient's diagnosis and treatment.

21 June 2017

Passengers at the centre for enhancing flight experience

Summer has started, and so has the holiday season. The further away the better, seems to be the motto nowadays. As a result, increasingly more people are choosing to go on holiday by air, often resulting in long queues, delays and annoyed passengers. Although we must guard against the fallacy that science can solve all problems with overcrowded airports, researchers from the Faculty of IDE are certainly doing their bit.

21 June 2017

'Internet of Things is all about valuable data'

As professor Internet of Things at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Gerd Kortuem specialises in the interaction between humans and computers, smart cities and data-enabled design. Kortuem is originally a computer scientist, but above all else he views the technology of the Internet of Things as an instrument. For him, it’s all about making sensible use of data.

Delft Design Stories

Read the stories of researchers and students at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, and discover the scientific questions on which they work and the solutions they present.

What makes a circular designer?

It makes sense that designing for a circular economy requires something different than the traditional linear approach. Because it’s not just about creating sustainable products, it’s about an entire system aimed at reducing resource use and waste. For her PhD research, Deborah Sumter wanted to find out what competencies designers need to develop to be successful at circular design.

How to paint convincing stuff

If you see a bunch of grapes, how does your brain understand that those are real grapes and not ones made of plastic? And if you see those grapes in a painting - say a 17th-century piece of Dutch Golden Age art - how does your brain understand that those are also grapes? That’s what Francesca Di Cicco wanted to know for her PhD thesis.

A robot with a soft touch

Try and picture a robotic hand and an image of metal fingers with rigid joints might come to mind. Imagine instead one made of soft materials that can dextrously grip an apple, automatically adjust to its shape, and pluck it from a tree. Rob Scharff, through his PhD research, explores how the emerging field of soft robotics has the potential to revolutionise the future of robotic manipulation.

The unique train toilet challenge

The toilet touches all our lives, but we don’t want to touch the toilet. In other words, we try to keep a distance from toilets, particularly those in public. However, these toilets are what makes it possible for us to leave our homes and travel. More specifically, anyone travelling by train is used to having free access to train toilets, certainly on long journeys. But, as they are perceived as being dirty, they are greatly underused. A dilemma for railway companies and a challenge for sanitary designer and PhD graduate Marian Loth.

Persuasive technology for health and wellbeing at work

Elsbeth de Korte isn’t your typical Ph.D. student. When she defends her thesis later this month, on how technology can improve health and well-being in the workplace, she will have already been working at the Dutch research institute TNO for more than twenty years.

LandShapes: made to feel real

Master’s student in industrial design Frederik Ueberschär used artificial intelligence to create non-existent satellite images of the earth’s surface in his interactive installation LANDSHAPES. People can change these landscapes, and in this playful way he wants to involve them emotionally in climate change.

Resonance between brain and mind for better design

Caiseal Beardow, master’s student at TU Delft’s Faculty of Industrial Design, built an audio-visual installation that explores how brain and mind respond to subtle changes in a landscape of light and sound that test subjects experience in her installation.