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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.
Marco Rozendaal photographed in the AI factory

19 October 2021

How do you design objects with an intention?

Designing smart objects for everyday life demands a new approach: no longer focused on a single object and a single user, but on an ecological system of countless objects and users. This approach is central in the new Delft Design Lab for Expressive Intelligence and the recently published book Designing Smart Objects in Everyday Life.

19 October 2021

Design for Deaf culture and health

Patients failing to take their medication in the prescribed manner is a widespread problem across society. But a combination of social barriers, discrimination and difficulty with written language mean that the Deaf community has a greater struggle. This medication non-adherence can be dangerous for patients, prolong sickness and strained healthcare systems. Ph.D. researcher Prangnat Chininthorn wanted to find ways to improve this and help Deaf people better manage their own health.
Is het gewaad op dat schilderij van fluweel of van satijn?

22 September 2021

Is the robe in that painting velvet or satin?

Staring at one of the richly drawn paintings in Amsterdam’s famous Rijksmuseum, you might recognise that the robe worn by the subject of the painting is made of velvet and the cup on the table is made of silver. Your eyes only see swirls of paint but your brain understands what the artist was depicting. As part of his thesis research, Mitchell van Zuijlen wanted to understand how this is possible.
Waarom belanden innovaties in de Vallei des Doods?

15 September 2021

Why do innovations end up in the Valley of Death?

When it comes to innovating in large organisations, why do so many concepts die before they are realised? Barend Klitsie’s PhD research explored what organisational conditions help innovators to mitigate the Valley of Death and achieve sustainable implementation.

20 May 2021

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.

18 May 2021

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.

03 May 2021

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.

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.

'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.

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.

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.

‘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.

'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.

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.

'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.