Biographies

June Kyong Trondsen is a Ph.D. candidate at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology Department of Design. Her research focuses on understanding the role of shame in design and its entanglement with norms, narratives, and social values.

Casper Boks has been a professor in Design for Sustainability at the Department of Design at NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology since 2007. He has a Ph.D. in Industrial Design Engineering from TUDelft in the Netherlands (2002). His current research interests focus on design for sustainable behavior and practices and the role of societal narratives in driving these.

Workshop: #1 Unimaginable design

Steven Genbrugge holds master degrees in Product Development PO (University Antwerpen), Marketing Management MBA and  Entrepreneurship SME (Vlerick Business School).  For 20 years he was active in the general management of an industrial supply company in the port of Antwerp.  The past years he has been the founder of his own startup and he is working on product development to emphasize a lean strategy in companies.  His main working field in entrepreneurship  is social leadership, creative thinking and giving ideas the option to grow and to ground. Also he studies at the Antwerp Art Academy (Kaska) focussing on creating conceptual art.

Ina Dijstelbloem holds master degrees in Communications (Erasmus university, Rotterdam) and Anthropology (University of Amsterdam). For years she worked for TU Delft as head of communications for the civil engineering and geosciences faculty, learning about climate and society and as head of international student communications. She also taught in the design faculty of TU Delft, helping students to reflect on design in relation to politics, history, society & culture. At the moment Ina does research on how farmers in the south-east of the Netherlands cope with drought and other climate challenges, she is involved in Green city Breda and studies at the Trend Academy in Amsterdam focussing on green cities.

Workshop: #2 Design a roof that generates our food in an urban setting

Gert Verheule graduated in 1996 at the faculty “Product development” in Antwerp. He worked in different companies as a mechanical designer: www.theo.be, www.dupont.com, www.nokia.com, verhaert.com,  www.niko.eu and www.commscope.com. Since 2009 Gert works as an independent consultant in product development for various companies. His main focus as a professional designer is mechanical conceptional design and materialisation of ideas in high volume markets. In his spare time he likes to make stuff and spend time on the Tatami or in the snow.

Workshop: #3 Building light structures

Sees order in chaos / Loves to be challenged / Dad in an all-girl family /Has more shirts than days in a month. 

Bart Verleije holds a master's degree in industrial design, from Antwerp university (1999, Belgium). After 6 years working as a consultant in the design and engineering industry, he started working for Voxdale, first as a designer but later evolved to project manager and afterward to COO. The position he holds now within the company is more focused on helping companies nurture and grow their ideas into market-ready products. During his career, he has been (co-) inventor of several patents and designer of award-winning designs, such as " Henri van de Velde" and "Red Dot" awards. And he is, in collaboration with Voxdale, also involved in several start-up companies.

​Workshop: #4 - Formula H2O - Electric powerboat series​

Hilde Van Dyck is a hands-on creative probleem solver with expertise in the art and science of #leadingbydesign #playfulness #collaboration #creativity #leadership #softskills. She is currently working parttime as a doctoraal researcher on the future of higher design education and parttime as a teacher at our departement. Hilde has a background in entrepreneuring, product development and innovation. She founded UX consulting firm Monkeyshot, co-creation space House of Innovation, retreat spot Farm Of Inspiration, a human-centered Employee service Paper Plane Pilots, and co-founded Service Design agency Peel.

Kristof Vaes is a Tenure Track Professor at the University of Antwerp, Faculty of Design Sciences,  Product Development. Prior to his academic career, he worked for several design teams and offices in Flanders. After gaining expertise in design engineering, his interest evolved towards the human side of design. Kristof Vaes teaches courses on Inclusive Design and Design for Wellbeing, focusing on how people understand, use and experience products and situations, more specifically the cognitive, behavioural  and emotional aspects of human-product interactions. Subsequent research on Inclusive Design aims at developing products and services that are useful to people of all ages and abilities, and empower a diverse population by improving human performance, wellbeing, and social participation. 

Workshop: #5 Spicing up Cumulus Antwerp 2023

Industrial designer JanWillem Hoftijzer worked for several design agencies in the Netherlands. Today, he teaches and manages education and staff concerning design drawing and visualisation, at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, and he is a co-chair of the international Special Interest Group ‘Design Sketching’.

JanWillem believes that sketching is a crucial competence for all designers, even more so for design students. Citing John Ruskin (1856): “the discipline of drawing tunes the sensitivity of the drawer to a higher pitch, it refines the drawer’s vision”, he believes you need draw to be able to see. Next to his job that concerns the design drawing discipline, JanWillem works part-time on his PhD research project called ’Designing for Do-It-Yourself’. 

Workshop: #6 Intuitive sketching for creativity and expression

Elke Mestdagh (1982, Antwerp) holds a Master's degree in Product Development from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She has worked as a designer for 18 years, mainly in the world of baby and children's products. Her specialization is project management, graphics, and soft goods. For 10 years Elke teaches as a design assistant in the Product Development program and in the last 2 years she works on the coordination of our design education and student welfare.

Benoît Poncin (1993, Antwerp) holds a Master's degree in Product Development from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. He has cofounded ‘Stud’, which is a company that guides SME’s towards a digital future. Since 2020 he is a design assistant at PO, mainly focusing on sketching (analog &d digital) and design assignments.

Workshop: #7 New building – New opportunities!

Elise Coudré is a designer and artist who specialises in creating mesmerising and playful user experiences. Trained in industrial design (University of Antwerp) with experience in service design, communication, marketing & photography she loves to get involved in a variety of fun & meaningful projects. Currently she is building bridges between the collection of Speelgoedmuseum Mechelen and its visitors by creating programmes, activities & events in the current museum as well as conceptualising the user experience for the future museum that will open in 2 years. Next to that, Elise has a body of personal projects where she creates playful and provocative art around food and organises experiential eating activities.

Workshop: #8 We all play: designing for the future of play

Tom Delaey (1968, Brugge) holds a Master in Product Development from Antwerp University, Belgium, and a Master in Product Design from Art Center College of Design, California. He has 26 years of experience as product designer within Philips, across different sectors and Business Units. Since 5 years  he is a product design consultant for the medical industry. A couple of days per year, he works as a teacher assistant in Systemic Design at Antwerp University, Belgium.

Leonie Delaey (1996, Mol), has training in social-cultural work and is now completing her master's degree in cultural management at Antwerp University. In doing so, she has already done a lot of Social Entrepreneurship with different non-profit and cultural institutions, setting up different participatory (Kavka, Het bos, Behuman, Stampmedia, Formaat, idrops,..) - projects that have had a positive impact on diversity and society. Her latest work was as project manager for Nightwatch at the Fotomusuem in Antwerp and coaching young entrepreneurship at BAAS.

Workshop: #9 sense of community

Boris Fabris is an Automotive & Transportation Designer with international work experiences for Clients in USA, in China, in India and in Europe. In 2000 he won the European Competition of A.N.F.I.A. “Stile Italiano Giovani Europei” and one of the most prestigious projects that he signed is the Ferrari SP1(one-off) which won the “Best of Show” award at the 2010 Monterey Italian Competition (California, USA). He is also an International teacher and lecturer in: Alabama, Ohio, Texas, China, India, Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, France, England, Germany, Switzerland, Finland, Lithuania, Austria, Estonia, Republic of Armenia, Belarus, Holland, Czech Republic, Republic of Kosovo, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Brazil, Portugal, Spain and Italy. In 2019 he was the President of the International Jury for the evaluation of the fifth and final year of Transportation Design Students at ISD RUBIKA - Institut Supérieur de Design (Valenciennes, France).

Workshop: #10 NEW TYPES OF MOBILITY

Chiara Percivati, clarinetist and performer, is an interpreter dedicated to the music of our time. Her work as an artist and artistic researcher focuses on exploring, questioning, and expanding the symbiotic relationship between performer and instrument. She holds master’s degrees from the Conservatory of Milano and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She researches into the field of clarinet preparation and augmentation as a PhD candidate at the Orpheus Institute and University of Antwerp, and as a researcher at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp.

Valerio Lorenzoni received a B.Sc. degree in aerospace engineering from Università La Sapienza in 2005, a M.S. degree at TUDelft in 2008 with specialization in aeroacoustics, and worked till 2014 at Siemens Wind Power on aeroacoustics of wind turbines. In 2019 he received a Ph.D. in Art Science from UGent, focusing on human-computer interaction and musical bio-feedback systems. He has been active in the design and development of 3D printed saxophone mouthpieces and on (electronic) music interfaces. At the moment he is working as postdoctoral researcher at the department of Electrical Engineering at KULeuven, focusing on binaural auralization for an art installation. On the side, he has been playing the saxophone at a semi-professional level for over 20 years.

Workshop: #11 Future Shock Orchestra