Biographies

Jochen Schollaert graduated in 2000 as a master in product development at University of Antwerp. He started his career as automotive designer at Honda Access Europe. Now Chief Development Designer, he is busy researching trends, exploring concepts & designing all kinds of items big & small for Honda automobiles. He adheres to “A good design tells a good story”. Besides he has his own business to explore photography as well as graphic design.

Workshop: #1 Reimagine a Honda

Susie Brand-de Groot is lecturer, mentor, design coach at the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at the Technical University of Delft. She is also trained as a theatre designer and lectures the elective master course “perFORM”, where the two worlds of expertise meet each other in the middle.

Wouter Eggink is a design professional and assistant professor of Industrial Design Engineering at the University of Twente. He teaches Design Histories and researches the role of design in the shaping of Human-Technology relations. His research approach is based on the collaboration between design research and philosophy of technology, for which he coined the term “the practical turn”.

Workshop: #2 perFORM; changing the script

Sally Stone is the Professor of Adaptive Reuse and Pedagogical Innovation, and Programme Leader for Architecture and Adaptive Reuse at the Manchester School of Architecture. She studied furniture design then interior design before working in practice for a decade ahead of entering academia, initially at the University of Cardiff.
She received her PhD from the University of Westminster. Sally Stone published extensively on heritage and community, social sustainability, interiors, building reuse and pedagogy. Her recent books include: Inside Information (2022), Emerging Practices in Pedagogy (2021), Teaching- Learning-Research (2021), UnDoing Buildings (2019), and ReReadings Volumes 1+2 (2004, 2018). In 2022, she was the Visiting Professor at IUAV Venice, and she has been invited to be the 2025 Visiting Professor at the Berlin International University.

Joan Beadle is a UK based Artist and Educator with 30 years of extensive experience teaching Art and Design, previously holding roles across a range of UG and PG programmes at Manchester School of Art, MMU - 85-2021. Joan is a Senior fellow of the HEA and is a Co-founder of INFE- International
Network of Foundation Educators. Recent education projects include curating ‘The Exploded Studio’ Exhibition as Part of the 21st Annual GLAD Conference, Manchester (2019) , directing a live online collaborative project ‘The Big Studio - Dynamic Draping’ between Manchester School of Art and the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow- Re-purposing fabrics donated by Alexander McQueen (2021) and co-ordinating - INFE ‘FOUNDATIONAL’ Art Education Symposium at the Royal College of Art , UK (2024) Recent practice-based projects have involved the production of artists books which document a photographic exploration of Clothing and the Archive - the public, personal and private. These Photographic works have been exhibited nationally and internationally, with examples held in a number of public and private collections including those of the Tate and the British Library.

Workshop: #3 UNDO/REDO. Making: Otherwise - Speculative Alchemy for Redundant Garments.

Andries Reymer brings over 18 years of experience in innovation and product design across multiple industries, with a strong focus on creating sustainable and profitable business models. He is known for helping clients unlock innovation by combining a value-driven, business-centric approach with design thinking and a pragmatic, entrepreneurial mindset. Specializing in the commercial aspects of innovation, Andries has significant expertise in developing revenue models, crafting business cases, and designing value propositions that are both desirable for stakeholders and viable for long-term business growth. His experience spans the entire innovation value chain—from identifying opportunities through qualitative design research, to creating solutions, leveraging a startup-mindset and capturing value to drive sustainable and profitable businesses. In addition to his client work, Andries is a guest professor at Antwerp Management School, where he teaches in the Master’s program for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He is also a startup coach for the Ashoka Scale program and KBC Start it, helping earlystage companies design commercially viable business models.
Andries holds a Master’s degree in Product Development from the University of Antwerp, as well as certificates in Management from IE Business School and in Leadership from Antwerp Management School.

Robin Dauchot is a Business Design Analyst based in Brussels, working at Accenture. Robin has been actively involved in various projects and workshops, showcasing a strong ability to innovate and drive creative solutions. Robin's commitment to excellence and continuous improvement is evident in his work, making him a key contributor to the success of the Belux design team. Together with his clients, he imagins tomorrow’s products, services and businesses – and creates them
today. With degrees in Business Engineering and Music Composition, Robin’s creativity helps him co-creating solution concepts that help your people, by basing decisions on data and facts. His biggest strengths are his attention to details, his creativity and diligence.

Workshop: #4 Rethinking the shopping experience of Colruyt group

Annemiek Van der Wal holds a master's degree in Design for Interaction from Delft University of Technology, where she graduated with a project and publication on The Agency of Sketching. She currently works for the central government and enjoys addressing social and societal issues, both research and design contexts. In her work she uses her drawing skills to visualize strategies, visions and (policy) plans. She is convinced that visualizations lead to more insight into complex issues.

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.

Workshop: #5 The Agency of Sketching: of creativity and stories

Nicholas Erreweyaert works as a product designer at RAAK Design Studio, where he engages with local and international clients. The studio is renowned for its commitment to simplicity in design, with a strong emphasis on attention to detail and aesthetics. He strives to approach technical and complex products with simplicity, constructing them in a logical and straightforward manner, thereby bringing elegance to complicated products while optimizing them for mass production.

In addition to industrial design, he places significant emphasis on product visualization. Clean studio renders and high-quality prototypes ensure that even the simplest products exude a strong and recognizable character. Nicolas completed his product development education at the University of Antwerp. He is passionate about contemporary design and maintains a vast library of products ready to impart knowledge to students.

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Workshop: #6 Redesigning Reality A Workshop in Simplicity, Function, and Precision Model-Making​

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 Milan and the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She conducts research in the field of clarinet preparation and augmentation as a PhD candidate at the Orpheus Institute and the University of Antwerp. Additionally, she works as a researcher at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, where she is currently developing a research on clarinet
augmentation and digital forms of clarinet and bass clarinet preparation.

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: #7 Future Shock Orchestra

Casper Boks is professor in Design for Sustainability at the Department of Design at NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He is rather a design researcher than a designer per se, and interested in finding out where and how design can intervene in everyday situations to make things happen in more sustainable, healthy and social ways. He has supervised or co-supervised about 20 PhD and numerous MSc students, many of which had focus on Design for Sustainable Behaviour, which is one of his key research interests. After having had several management functions he is exploring new research avenues again, at the crossroads of design, behaviour, shame and societal narratives about what is OK and not OK. Like stamp collecting, a hobby which he is passionate about, but frowned upon by others. He doesn’t care, it only adds to his desire to be different than other people.

Workshop: #8 Using and analysing memes in design projects

Wim Boudewyns (1977, Antwerp) holds a Master's degree in Product Development from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Graduated in 2000, he worked for 8 years as a consultant and CAD expert at companies like Philips, Xeikon and Agfa Gevaert. He then joined Voxdale, a design and engineering agency, as a designer. Wim considers himself a peoples person and an all-rounder with a strong background in product development, engineering and innovation. He has a strong focus on the product development process and experience in mechanical engineering, complex surface design, injection moulding, project management and production transfer. Since 2023 he also teaches at the university.

Workshop: #9 Concept design and aerodynamic optimization of a next gen fixed wing drone for package transportation

Due to digitalisation, globalisation, social media and the pandemic, polarisation and alienation take over our society. Soft Connection Lab is looking for ways to restore the emotional connection with each other, and with our surrounding material world.

The starting point of this research project, which is encapsulated within KASK – School of Arts HoGent, is the traditional maypole dance. As this folkloric custom has lead to the development of a braiding machine, Soft Connection Lab wonders if ingenious textile techniques can be retransformed into co-creative performances and healing artefacts.

While conceiving and making are disconnected in our Western industrialised society, Soft Connection Lab researches ways to re-establish a conjunctive design methodology. Inspired by the artisanal textile techniques and the social connection of the maypole dancers or artisans, the team investigates connecting creative methods, which nourish an intangible added value.

The team explores if and how this collective energy stimulates the emotional relation between makers, consumers and objects, and if it, in doing so, functions as a catalyst for sustainability.

​More about the team.​

​Workshop: #10 Soft Connection Lab​

Maud Gruyters (she/her) is a PhD researcher at the University of Antwerp's Systemic Design Lab, within the Department of Product Development, Faculty of Design science. Her research focuses on an approach to increase the social impact of design projects tackling complex issues. By integrating a systemic perspective, her research emphasizes continuous monitoring throughout the design process and capacity building to enhance sustainable implementation.

Kaat Kenis (she/her) is a PhD researcher at FWO and the University of Antwerp’s Faculty of Design Sciences. With a background in Product Development and Gender & Diversity Studies, her research focuses on reimagining Inclusive Design to tackle the complex challenges of today’s superdiverse society. With a special interest in the power dynamics in design processes, Kaat draws inspiration from feminist studies, and critical accessibility studies.

Stine Moons (she/her) is a PhD researcher at Systemic Design Lab of the department of Product Development (University of Antwerp). She uses a systemic design perspective to work on the sustainability transition of organisations. By investigating the complexity of the innovation process of companies and integrating transition characteristics into the innovation process, she works towards a fair and just sustainability transition.

Workshop: #11 Made to Misfit: Design for the Uninvited