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22 January 2021

Sustainable design is not just about the material stuff

Sure, sustainable design can result in a trendy reusable bottle. But it’s not just about the product, it’s also about the process. Through his PhD research, Brian Baldassarre set out to understand how design expertise can be applied by business organisations in the transition towards sustainable development.

13 January 2021

An ecosystem perspective on circularity

Making the transition towards a Circular Economy is so complex and full of interdependencies that no single company or actor can achieve it alone. In his PhD thesis, Jan Konietzko proposed that getting there will require a collective approach: business innovation using an ecosystem perspective.

16 December 2020

Designing to inspire more sustainable consumers

Shifting towards the Circular Economy is not just about sustainable products, it’s also about sustainable behaviour. So how can design influence people to take better care of the products they use? PhD graduate Laura Ackermann says for designers, considering the consumer perspective is the key.

29 October 2020

Marleen and Sjoerd graduated at the Flying-V: what was their contribution?

This summer, Aerospace Engineers Marleen Hillen and Sjoerd van Empelen both graduated on the Flying-V. Their graduation research contributes to the scientific research agenda Flying-V.

20 October 2020

Aviation degrades air quality. How much depends on where you live and who your neighbours are.

By far the largest share of aircraft emissions is made up of CO2. But a small percentage of aviation emissions consisting of combustion by-products, such as NOx and fine particulate matter, can greatly degrade air quality.

15 October 2020

An energy mix combined with a novel engine concept to make aviation much more sustainable

Researchers at TU Delft – together with partners SAFRAN group, Airbus and Rotterdam the
Hague Innovation Airport (RHIA) – will work on an Advanced Propulsion and Power Unit (APPU) to be applied on aircraft of the calibre Airbus A320.

13 October 2020

What can mussel shells teach us about the circular economy?

In a circular economy, design is about more than just creating a sustainable product. In this system based on eliminating waste and minimising the use of resources, the design process is aimed at preserving the value of products and materials and keeping them in the economic system for as long as possible. So how do you do that? PhD candidate Marita Sauerwein came up with a novel material based on ground mussel shells and showed through 3D printing technology that the end life of a product is really just the beginning.

12 October 2020

'Supersonic planes are not going to save us'

In response to the messages about a new supersonic aircraft, Dean Henri Werij wrote a letter sent to the Volkskrant. You can read it today, October 12th 2020, as Letter of the Day (in Dutch).

09 October 2020

The circular economy needs your old phones (and other things)

The transition towards a circular economy (CE) requires that products be returned for reuse, refurbishing or recycling. But getting people to follow through is not always easy. Looking at this issue from the user perspective, PhD candidate Flora Poppelaars researched ways to increase the return of mobile phones after use, helping to close the CE loop.

07 October 2020

How circular business models keep consumers in the loop

The circular economy is a hot topic these days. Moving away from the old linear model of take-make-consume-throw away, the circular model is a closed-loop system that involves more than simply recycling waste. It’s a process that involves several inter-dependent phases, including sustainable design – or designing out waste. And there are many actors involved in making it work. For her PhD, Vivian Tunn looked at things from the consumer perspective to investigate how circular business models can be designed to enable sustainable consumption.

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