/Voorpagina /Mensen /Nieuws /Opinie /Cultuur /Studentenleven /Achtergrond /English page /Onderzoek /Reportage /Bestuur /Ruis /Ranzigt /Colofon

/Faculteits Berichten /Vacatures /Mensa /Oude cursors /pdf formaat /TUE /Zoeken:

Jaargang 43, 9 november 2000 English page

Bridging the Gap between Design and Technology Designers, architects, artists and scientists are joining forces next week Tuesday in a 'Design Day' (or 'Dag van het Ontwerp'). Speakers from all over the world will discuss the theme of design and smart technology. There will be twelve workshops on exciting new developments. The people behind this third edition of the annual Design Day are interested in bridging the gap between design and technology. Organisers are journalist Walter van Hulst and designer Han le Blanc of Vormgeversoverleg Eindhoven. They say design and technology are no longer as separate as they were once perceived to be. "These days, design processes are driven by multidisciplinary teams. Design is no longer just a marketing tool for packaging the product. Design management has become a science," Le Blanc said in an interview with Cursor last week. "Products must measure up to high level requirements in the areas of technology, environment and style. Also, markets are more and more volatile and there are no longer just a few kinds of consumers. Products are almost tailored to individual taste." Philips Natlab, TU/e and the Design Academy are also involved in this annual Design Day. Boredom An issue many scientific researchers face is whether technological progress always means human progress. A group of designers and trend watchers have decided to look at this question 'scientifically' during the Design Day. "The day will not only be pro-technology. Technology does not always make a better world. Not everything that is possible is actually desirable from the point of view of society," says Le Blanc. "So we need a kind of filter in the persons of trend watchers and scenario writers. How should we give consumers the use of infinite functionality? We can squeeze UMTS and GPS into a mobile phone, but if the manual turns into something the size of an encyclopaedia, then what have we gained? We have to relate technology to people and from there create products consumers can actually use to improve their lives. We also need to watch out for the kind of comfortable boredom that will put everyone to sleep if everything in life is automatic." Computers Everywhere American designer and computer researcher Bill Buxton is one of the most prominent speakers invited to the Design Day. He will talk about social and cultural aspects of the omnipresent computer. Buxton is an authority in the area of user/system interaction, his seminar on Tuesday afternoon is entitled 'When the Computer is Everywhere'. Buxton is interested in the use of technology in design, film and music. Designing and using computers in music brought him to his specialisation in user/system interaction. Other workshops/discussions/lectures: Tracking and Tracing by TNO; Design & Smart Technology by Damian O'Sullivan of Design Academy Eindhoven; Design Methodology by Stan Ackermans Instituut and Design Academy Eindhoven; Designing the Home Experience by Philips Design and Philips Research; Design Management by European Design Centre; The (Non)sense of Smart Technology ­ a debate between John Thackara and Willem de Ridder; Eindhoven Design Region by Oscar Peña of Philips Design Milan; Johnny Lippinkhof of Philips Design on Smart Homes; Knowledge Area Experiment in Eindhoven en Helmond; Egbert Jan Sol of Ericsson Stockholm on Tomorrow's Communication and finally Yrjö Sotamaa of the University of Art and Design Helsinki on the Future Home. The Design Day will be held on Tuesday November 14. The morning lecture program will be in the 'Witte Dame' building downtown from 9.00 to 12.00 a.m. After that the program continues at TU/e with lunch in the Auditorium, and workshops, a seminar, a debate and a fair in the afternoon. All lectures and most of the workshops/discussions will be in English. Please contact Studium Generale at extension 4900 if you are interested in attending. Tickets are priced at 150 guilders or 50 guilders for students./.

BMT Trains Entrepreneurs The Biomedical Technology department is working to turn researchers in entrepreneurs. Graduates, post-docs and other researchers with good ideas in the field of biomedical applications will receive support from the university in developing their ideas into real products. In this way, the department wants to publicise the kind of subjects it is researching. "We don't want to stop at producing prototypes, we want to show that what we are doing here has clear applications in the real world," says BMT department head prof.dr.ir. Jan Janssen. At the moment, two projects are ongoing within the so-called Development Unit at BMT. Dr. Giovanna Cacciola is working on synthetic heart valves and dr.ir. Frank Gijsen is developing a software program to help cardiologist in their decisions on by-pass operations. Joost de Hoogh: "A Super Tournament" Swimmer Joost de Hoogh looks back on the Paralympics with satisfaction. De Hoogh won a bronze medal in the 400 metre free style and swum a European record. He also improved his own personal record in every distance he swam. "It was a super tournament," said the 21-year-old Mechanical Engineering student. He focused on two races: the 200 metre medley and the 400 metre free style. "I came in fourth in the 200 metre medley. I just missed winning bronze by eighteen-hundredth of a second." On Sunday October 22, de Hoogh swam the 400 metre free style. After a blood-curdling race, he came in third. The difference between De Hoogh and the swimmer in fourth place was one-hundredth of a second. Last Thursday De Hoogh visited the Dutch queen with his colleague medal winners. De Hoogh is planning to take part in the Paralympics again in four years time.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]