PAST
How did past learning experiences inform my Professional Identity and Vision and add to my development in the Expertise Areas.
Industrial Design, Sept 2021 – Jan 2022
During my first semester at the TU/e, I was introduced to the fundamentals of Industrial Design. The course From Idea to Design taught me the basics of design processes, introducing me to new ideation methods, prototyping techniques, and communication skills.
Having an interest in both technology and psychology, next to the course User-Centred Design, I participated in the course Social Psychology and Customer Behaviour. These courses provided insights into how social and internal processes influence customer behavior and introduced various user and customer research techniques, essential for informed decision-making.
Ultimately, the courses Calculus, Applied Natural Sciences, and Creative Programming laid the groundwork for my computational and coding skills, crucial for future realization processes.
Treevia, From Idea to Design
Treevia is a digital- physical educational game that teaches children to be more aware of their environment. The game Treevia exists out of both physical elements, the board, the tree pawns and the tree-cutter, and digital components, the treevia app including trivia questions and mini-games.
HeartWork, Creative Programming
HeartWork is a program that encourages people to have regular breaks during study sessions, by tracking their study sessions using motion sensors in a cushion. After a set amount of time, the animation on the display changes from happy to sad to indicate it’s time for a study break.
Industrial Design, Feb 2022 – July 2022
In the second semester, I predominantly focused on acquiring hard skills. I was taught the basics of data analysis, how to make products interactive through the integration of electronics in design concepts, and ultimately elevated my sketching skills to a technical and professional level. Project 1, allowed me to apply these skills in a project context, teaching me to navigate the uncertainties of design processes and validate designs through user studies and literary research.
Looking back to my first vision in my first year of Industrial Design, I expressed it was my goal to leverage my interest in technology and psychology to help solve societal issues through behavioural change technology. Consequently, I dedicated my project 1 to the reducing of social anxiety among university students. This illustrates how from the start, I have always shown more interest in solving societal issues than personal troubles, preferring a systemic approach over the creation of one-off solutions.
Furthermore, being part of the external affairs team of ID Career and head of promotion at the Exhibition and Gala Committee of Dekate Moussa, the photography association of the TU/e, significantly improved my stakeholder contact and collaboration skills, supporting me in developing a more professional attitude.
Acclima-Coaster, Creative Electronics
Acclima-Coaster is a coaster that maintains the perfect temperature of your drink. This device will make sure that your refreshing drink in the summer and your hot drink in the winter maintains a perfectly cool or warm temperature, by measuring the current temperature of your drink and applying warmth or coolness when the temperate deviates from its perfect value
Exploratory Sketching
Example of assignments of the course Exploratory Sketching
Co-Connect
Co-Connect is a high tech system, made for students, that matches people with a high compatibility rating together and assigns them to the same study area, fostering solidarity among students and providing a safe environment and a lowered threshold for social contact.
Industrial Design, Sept 2022 – Jan 2023
Staring off the USE trajectory and the course Engineering Design, I was asked to elevate my collaboration skills to a transdisciplinary level, learning to account for varying technical backgrounds in design processes.
Additionally, the courses New Product Marketing and Marketing Research taught me how to position a product on the market and establish a unique value proposition, sparking my interest in business design.
Design <> Research introduced me to both qualitative and quantitative research methods and familiarized me with the concept of research through design.
During Project 2, I enhanced my skills and confidence in the field of technology and realization skills by creating the electronic circuit and code for the interactive product MEMOSIO, a physical-digital project management system.
This project marked a shift towards interaction design, leveraging user-centered approaches to facilitate the integration of technology in society with the goal to evoke positive behavioral change.
PlanTech, Engineering Design
PlanTech is a species-specific watering system, that measures the humidity in the ground, compares the data with preferred humidity setting of the plant species and then automatically releases the right amount of water from the water tank.
Gyroscopic Phone Case, Design <> Research
In this research, we explored the effect and implications of a posture improving phone case to evaluate the possibility for success of a non-wearable probe designed for behaviour change in the use of mobile devices. By creating a gyroscopic phone case which encourages users to hold their device at eye level and collecting qualitative research through user testing, knowledge was created and extrapolated to generalise findings
MEMOSIO, Project 2
MEMOSIO is a hybrid physical-digital project management product that aims to reduce the cognitive overload generated by digital file management systems, that rely on cognition instead of action, for freelancers that work from home. MEMOSIO consists of a storage unit with discs, a controller, and a user interface on the computer.
Industrial Design, Feb 2023 – July 2023
Primarily the courses Making Sense of Sensors and Project 3 deepened my knowledge of quantitative and qualitative research, data gathering, and analysis techniques, enabling me to assess the validity of data, identify trends, and draw meaningful conclusions.
My growing interest in marketing and business design, led me to follow the course Stakeholder Perspectives in Design and Marketing in Action. These courses taught me how to derive opportunities for value exchange from systematic analyses of the problem space and market dynamics, supporting me in adopting a systemic approach to solving wicked problems.
To contribute to the goal of leveraging interaction design to evoke positive behavioural change, it is vital to design intuitive interactions to facilitate meaningful dialogues between product and user. This is what the course Aesthetics of Interaction taught me. Completing Project 3 in the squad Artifice, researching desirable attitudes of AI personas in team meeting settings, however, I adopted a more-than-human attitude. Consequently, I shifted my focus from using (interaction) design to accommodate the needs of my users to the creation of meaningful interactions that accommodate the dynamics of an ecosystem of interdependent agents. This sparked my interest in the utilization of system design to leverage meaningful relationships between actors to approach complex design cases.
Fulfilling the role of PI&V tutor in this semester, I coached Industrial Design students in the development of their personal identity and vision as a designer, enhancing my organizational and communication skills and providing valuable experience in the coaching of students.
Hymn, Aesthetics of Interaction
Hymn is a wake-up experience that encapsulates the feeling of escaping reality, by means of a daydream simulation, existing out of a soundscape, which is manipulatable by means of shape-changing interfaces.
The Soos Platform - Stakeholder Perspectives in Design
A redesign of the Soos Platform, positioning the Soos concept on the market as the first exclusively online platform for seniors, allowing seniors to socialize, play games, participate in workshops, and establish new friendships online.
AI at the Round Table - Project 3
In this research, the researchers investigated what characteristics and attitudes were perceived as most valueble in an AI agent when placed in a team meeting setting. This was done by creating 4 different personas, each defined by 3 distinct characteristics, with which the interaction was tested in various team discussions.
Honors Academy, Sept 2023 – Jan 2023
Alongside my studies I participated in the Honors Academy's Empowerment for Health and Wellbeing track, collaborating with Usono, a company that designs probe fixation devices for dynamic ultrasound, on the Wearable Ultrasound project. In my first year of this program, I was part of the R&D team of the Wearable Ultrasound project. I designed and tested various 3D models for a new iteration of the ProbeFix dynamic, called the ProbeFix Magnetic, accommodating dynamic ultrasound on the knee. Missing the conceptual phases of the design process in a process where the concept was already predetermined, this project confirmed my preference for concept creation and strategic planning over the optimization of aesthetic or function, solidifying my desire to use design for innovative strategies, systems, and services.
Data Gathering Ultrawise
Data gathering process for the creation of the database of the AI Software Ultrawise, a software assisting physiotherapists in the diagnosis of injuries, by deriving measurements & markers from ultrasound imagery.
Presentation ProbeFix Magnetic & Ultrawise
Presentation of the ProbeFix Magnetic on Honors Demoday
Testing ProbeFix Magnetic
Testing the ProbeFix Magnetic to assess its ability to continuously display meniscus expulsion during dynamic movement.
Iteration of ProbeFix Magnetic
Overview of iterations of the ProbeFix Magnetic, displayed on Honors Demoday. These prototypes varied in their mechanisms and materials to accommodate for the natural movement of the knee during dynamic ultrasound assessments
Exchange Simon Fraser University, Sept 2023- Dec 2023
In my third year, I participated in the exchange program of the Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver Canada, during which I followed courses in speculative design, Science, Technology and Society (STS), and Business Law. Learning about the dynamics between science, technology, and society, I realized innovation extend beyond products and technologies to systems, social interactions, strategies and policies, emphasizing the importance of systemic, and strategic design approaches to transformational processes.
Additionally, the course Speculative Design taught me the importance of speculation to draw alternative realities into reality, informing decision-making processes in the present and having the potential to break through destructive practices and systems.
Honors Academy, Sept 2023 – June 2024
In my second year of Honors Academy, I shifted my focus from product to strategic design, completing a market analysis of the Canadian Ultrasound Device Market and creating a proposal for an improved service and business model for the company Usono. Throughout this project, I noted that I found pleasure in identifying promising connections between gathered data, research, and customer insights, revealing opportunities for innovative concepts, again reinforcing my interest in systemic and strategic design.
Presenting Solutions at Honors Demoday
Presenting the progress we made in the academic year 2023-2024 at the Honors Demoday, including the universal probe adaptor, Ultrawise software and proposed Business model
Team Meeting Usono
Transdisciplinary team work between Hardware, Software and Business team, translating the individual solutions into a coherent business plan
UltraWise Software
The new interaction of the software Ultrawise, including AI models, a case data base and a community platform, assisting physiotherapists in the diagnosis of injuries using ultrasound
Industrial Design, Feb 2024 – July 2024
Ultimately, the courses Design Innovation Methods and Intercultural Design, played into both the strategic and speculative parts of my vision, providing me with the skills to analyse the problem space and business landscape of my final bachelor project and deepening my knowledge of value-driven design methods, helping me identify opportunities for the integration of value-driven methods in the field of urban development.