The aim of this master thesis is to create a product that can increase awareness about the influence of air quality and noise on well-being. About 6% of the total burden of disease can be accounted to influences of the natural environment on well-being. Part of the problem is the unawareness of people about these influences. In order to improve well-being, people first have to reflect on the current situation and therefore become aware. Therefore, the goal of the product is to increase awareness and give people the knowledge to make different or better decisions. Studio Überdutch for who the project was conducted saw potential in measuring, interpreting, processing and adjusting the quality of the living environment. As a result, this project was initiated.
It was found that the variables that have most impact on human health are air pollution and noise. Based on the outcomes of the influence of the different variables, a look was taken at the influence of stress on well-being. Being able to cope with environmental stressors can only be done when being aware of the interpretation of the stressor. This led to the need to measure the subjective experience of these variables as well. It was decided to measure air pollution and noise for the rest of the project, both objectively and subjectively. During the project scope phase, a concept direction was chosen, being a product connected inside and outside the home environment to measure air quality and noise and comparing the outcomes. This means the products will consist of two parts, Part A for indoor and Part B for outdoor. The final concept consists of two parts attached on opposite sides of the window. Feedback will be given by indicators in a transparent ring and input will be collected by touch. This concept was validated by a user test. From the user test it was concluded that the product can increase awareness on the level of air quality and noise, but that the experienced need for providing input is missing.

During design projects, designers create and gain a lot of important knowledge that explains how and why certain steps are taken in the process of designing something new. Methods, best practices, pitfalls, and other important insights that might be useful for future projects are often lost in transition due to a lack of structural knowledge sharing. This report describes a research into this problem, and results in a design that improves the process of knowledge sharing.

EDS Casting and Forging B.V. (EDS) is an Amsterdam-based design agency, specialised in redesigning welded assemblies into castings. As EDS is growing rapidly, and plan to keep on growing, they expressed a need of centralising their in-house design knowledge. From this need, the following problem statement was formulated:

“New engineers at EDS have a lack of easily accessible sources, to learn how to design an economical casting or forging”

To approach this problem, the following research questions were formulated:

What does a new engineer need to learn in order to design an economical casting or forging at EDS?
What kind of learning source could fit within EDS?

To find answers to those research questions an analysis phase was executed considering the following topics:
EDS Casting and Forging
Designing at EDS
An economical casting or forging
New engineers at EDS
Learning sources
Estimating cost

As can be observed, these topics cover all crucial elements of the research questions, enabling the analysis phase to answers them. The insights from this analysis were used to create concepts, and define design criteria to evaluate those concepts.

The concept that was chosen to develop further was the EDS kick-start, a program specially designed to optimise the learning curve for new engineers at EDS.
The EDS kick-start is divided in 3 phases:
The 1st phase takes 1 week. In this week, the new engineer should obtain as much knowledge about casting and forging as possible. For this phase the EDS traineeship was developed.
The 2nd phase takes 3 months. During this period the new engineer needs to be productive for EDS, while still learning new skills and knowledge. For this phase a recommendation was made for an EDS learning sources overview.
The 3rd phase takes as long as the engineer is working for EDS. During this phase the engineer should be fully enabled to learn from the projects he is doing. For this phase a recommendation was made for an EDS quotation book.

The product of phase 1, the EDS traineeship is the main focus of this project. This traineeship was developed using the principle of constructive alignment (Biggs, 2011). The assignments of the traineeship were inspired by the ‘7 principles of good teaching’ (Chickering, 1987) and build upon learning goals that were shaped, making use of Blooms taxonomy (Bloom, 1956).

An early version of the traineeship was tested with a new engineer and found to be very valuable for both the trainee, the mentor, and therefore, also for EDS. With the testing insights the traineeship was developed further to an final version, and presented to EDS, ready to be used for the foreseeable future.

In this project a strategic model for sustainable community development through tourism is designed.
A pilot research in Ljusnarsberg, a deteriorating rural community in Sweden, is performed to develop the strategic model to come to a final concept. The result is a final strategic model based on literature research, insights from the pilot research area’s context analysis and experiences of implementing the strategic model in the pilot community.
The final concept of the strategic model presents a local organization that connects its community to the
ecotourism market to change the economical, socio- cultural and environmental deterioration into sustainable development. The organization facilitates active tourism development and reactive community development towards a strongly sustainable paradigm. In this paradigm all development is done within planetary boundaries.
Though still highly developmental, the strategic model could turn a deteriorating rural area into a developing
community that is attractive to live and sustainable for the future. Next to that can the model make rural living a more viable option, combating not only rural deterioration, but also the negative effects of urbanization.

Aquaponics is the combination of two existing techniques, hydroponics (soilless farming), and aquaculture(aquatic animals growing). This symbiosis process of recycling wastes and recirculating water creates potentials for aquaponics in future vegetable and aquaculture produce. The vision of Riverfood (client company) is to make aquaponics accepted as a food production method for urban dwellers. This project analyzed the current aquaponics status and seek an opportunity for Riverfood to execute that aligns with its vision. A business-to-business strategy was proposing involving two external parties, revolving the construction and the service of a modular aquaponics system in company canteens. Insights from the user analysis and technical demands were synthesized into the design vision of an inviting functional and educational system. The concept of combing a curved aquarium with vertical farming was chosen for detailing. The results of this project include the system design and the accompanied services, complimenting the demands for collaborations with companies. Considering the relative cost price for a functional system, the modular design was decided to be prototyped as a quarter-size model.

This project deals with two problems, which in combination ask for a single solution. The first problem being plastic waste accumulation in low resource areas and the second being that production and construction materials in these low-resource areas are often very expensive. When these two problems are combined, an opportunity arises to transform plastic waste into qualitative production/construction materials.
This is something that is already being realised by numerous organisations all over the world, however, in the market of bottom-up recycling, multiple machine designs are available, but a plate press is still lacking. Therefore, the assignment
that is set for this project is to:
“Design a product for maker-spaces in low-resource areas, that can transform plastic waste into qualitative plastic plate construction material, and that can be produced locally and operated by locals.”

While designing a new product for low-resource settings the challenges are to make it affordable, to design for local production to stimulate the local
economy, to ensure that it can operate in the local infrastructure, to make it easy to maintain and repair with local resources and that local staff can operate it.

For this project, it is most important to find an affordable and accessible solution that can be realised with minimal technologies and readily available materials, and that is adaptable to multiple different contexts and resources.
Therefore the design is focussed on functionality, embodiment, and production, while topics like user interaction and implementation are only treated superficially.

If used alongside insecticide treated bed nets, an innovative odour baited mosquito trap with a high capture performance could contribute massively to the prevention of malaria in Africa and the eradication of the disease. This report outlines the research and design processes carried out by Henry Fairbairn, with the support of a supervisory team from consisting of members from the Technical University of Delft and Wageningen University and Research. The SolarMal Project was the first trial to investigate the impact of odour baited mosquito suction traps as a tool for vector control and malaria prevention. Results from the clinical study show that the implementation of mosquito traps across the island of Rusinga, Kenya, lead to a 30% reduction in cases of malaria and 70% reduction in the Anopheles population (Homan et al. 2016). However, further research into mosquito escape behaviour showed the Suna-Trap, used in the SolarMal Trial, had a poor capture performance with less than 4% of approach flights resulting in capture (Cribellier et al. 2018). A study by N.Tubben found that the majority users in were unable to maintain the Solar powered mosquito trapping systems after the project. To be an effective tool for prevention of malaria, it must be possible for users in Africa to sustain the working condition of the trap to continue to reduce biting and even prevent resurgence. Based on findings from this research and an iterative R&D process outlined in this report, it was possible to design an concept for an innovative mosquito trap with a high capture performance which is suitable for further lab testing and field testing. A number if concepts were tested in order to highlight how variant factor effect performance compared to the Suna-Trap. Each concept tested should include as few variables compared to the benchmark Suna-Trap to clearly conclude on how the variant effects performance. Although the testing is not thorough enough to make any scientific conclusions, there is enough data to make a conclusion as to whether incorporating the feature into a new design will increase the capture rate. High performing principals can be further tested in the future. From evaluations of the hypotheses it can be concluded that the additions of heat and moisture increase the capture rate in comparison to a standard Suna-Trap under lab conditions. The addition of hot water and a heating element above the trap canopy showed the most notable improvement compared to the BG Suna-Trap in terms of capture performance. It is thought that the additional heat and moisture in the trap prove more attractive to the target vectors increasing the number of approach flights resulting in more flights into the capture zone. Considering the context factors as well as performance factors highlighted in the research, the final design aims to provide a high performance mosquito trapping solution of which is suitable for use in Africa.

On a yearly bases approximately 1,5 million mattresses are discarded in the Netherlands. Matras Recycling Europe (MRE) is an Utrecht based company that specialises in disassembling mattresses. MRE is able to recycle 250.000 to 300.000 of the 1,5 million mattresses. Most of the pieces that are separated from these mattresses can be re-used in other applications. The outside layer of a mattress, known as ticking, has not found a useful application yet. In this thesis, the possibilities are researched for the application of mattress ticking. The main research question is therefore: How can recycled mattress ticking be treated to design useful applications? At the start of this thesis the common solution for the re-use of ticking waste is to shred the material and press it into sheets. The name for these sheets is TEPA. It can be used as insulation in renovated or new floors in buildings. However, the amount of ticking waste is greater than the amount of TEPA used. This is also a reason to find another application for ticking waste. For recycling purposes it would be desirable to be able to separate the different materials For the most part it is made of polyesters, cotton and other natural fibres. At the moment this is hard and too expensive to separate these materials. Several other processing techniques where analysed to find a useful one for ticking waste. An adjustment is made to the existing processing technique by pulverizing the waste material into smaller pieces to create a material that is more homogeneous than TEPA. After the waste material is pulverized, a sheet can be pressed and a product proposal can be made. Acoustic wall panels are designed called Acoustic Ticking. During the production process several shapes and surface finishes can be pressed into the sheets. There are however a few factors to take into account. The flammability of the untreated Acoustic Ticking, just like TEPA, is high. This can be reduced by treating them with a solution that is also used for curtains and furniture. The other factor to take into account are the dimensions of the fibres to not be hazardous for people. The dimensions of polyester and natural fibres however are large enough for the human body to safely dispose of.

The design of the Acoustic Ticking could be improved by looking into other hanging systems for the panels, see what other shapes can be manufactured and if it in some way can be used as a construction material.
The final result of this thesis is an acoustic panel that extends the life-cycle of ticking waste materials. This solution uses no virgin materials and fits the circular economy diagram made by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Also, the manufacturing of the acoustic panels has the possibility to process a large amount of ticking waste that would otherwise be incinerated.

The Rollor X is cardboard package that is specially designed for suits to be transported crease free. When ordering a suit online, a customer deserves to receive its suit in the best condition as possible. This is were the Rollor X comes in. Just as a standard cardboard package it is completely foldable and is made out of a single sheet of cardboard. The Rollor X is set up in 5 easy steps. First fold it open, set up the core and the rails, lay in the suit, roll it and close it up. Ready to be transported. Rolling the suit, together with the rails creating a space for the suit to lay in, enables the suit to be transported crease free. This is a patented working principle called Rollor© Technology.

This report presents the research into e-bikes for commuters and the design process of a laptop bag carrier for commuters. The project was carried out for Royal Dutch Gazelle in Dieren.

The project started with the question: How to make electric bikes more attractive to commuters? In order to answer this research question a literature study, user research and market analysis was done, all focussed on the Dutch bicycle market. In order to get a good insight in the commuter's needs and wishes in depth interviews were held with e-bike owners.

The main conclusion from the research phase are that in order to make the e-bike more attractive e-bikes should be more reliable, have a unique design and offer more practicality and ease of use. Under practicality and ease of use issues as charging possibilities, bringing luggage, maintenance and theft prevention are considered. Based on these conclusion a descriptive domain for the solution direction was formulated: Worry-free modern commuting.

Within the domain of worry-free modern commuting the design direction was developed further. As target group young family (wo)men were chosen and as a retail strategy a lease construction was selected. Also it was decided that the design focus would be on bringing luggage. The bicycle type would be a normal e-bike and the design would be based on the Gazelle CityZen model family.

Based on the formulated design direction the idea generation phase was started and along the way more design choices were made. It was for example chosen to focus on bringing your own laptop bag, which would be mounted on a luggage solution at the front or at the rear of the bicycle. After these design decisions thirteen concept ideas were generated. From these concepts two similar rear concepts were selected to be worked out in more detail.

The two concepts, Horizontal bracket and the Diagonal support, both feature a construction were the laptop bag is mounted diagonally along the rear seat stay. This way the bag does not get in the way of the pedalling motion, but can still be placed very close to the centre of mass of the bike. Also it is automatically integrated in the lines of the bike, as it follows part of the bicycles frame. The two concepts were developed further using mock-ups and by modelling and sketching. Based on the second iteration in mock-ups the 'Diagonal support' concept was chosen to be worked out as the final design. The Diagonal support concept is chosen because it works well in terms of looks and position on the bike and it scores more positive on the mounting factor.

The final design was further developed by use of CAD-software and resulted in the Gazelle laptop carrier. This luggage solution boosts a foldable support structure were a laptop bag can be safely mounted on the bike. By means of a elastic mounting strap the bag is securely locked in place and by means of rubber shock absorption the laptop bag is protected from road impact. The Gazelle laptop carrier will be offered as an option on a new commuter lease bike and can be leased from 2,50 euro per month.

Food waste is the fastest growing issue of our time. Countries in the EU discard an estimated 89 million tons of food every year. Worse, the food waste will increase to about 126 million tons in 2020 if we do not take action (European Union Committee, 2014). Moreover, most countries are burying food waste in the landfills. This manner of disposal produces methane gas because of the high water content of wasted food, and even contaminates soil and water that we are relying on to live (Osteen, C., Gottlieb, J., & Vasavada, U., 2012). As solutions from food-related organizations and the government, many public campaigns and strict regulations have been carried out to decrease food waste at the production and consumption levels for years.This graduation project started from the global interest: the reduction in food waste. Specifically, the project aims at the consumption level. The reason is that twice or three times more food waste is produced at the consumption level than at the other three stages, which are production, processing and distribution (European Court of Auditors, 2016). During this project, the five design phases were executed for six months.To investigate the reasons in-depth, this project researched and analyzed the consumer’s behaviours towards food. For this study, face-to-face interviews and Food Diary surveys were conducted based on the research questions. The user research data was analysed in several directions.Through the user research, it was apparently found that vegetables were discarded in the home every week and the situation should be improved to reduce vegetable waste. The results of the in-depth user research were interpreted in a design statement to create some design ideas. The ideas were estimated by the four criteria which are feasibility, usability, aesthetics and effectiveness, and one out of five ideas was chosen as the final design concept which names Veggie-Table. As the project completion, the concept development and evaluation were conducted. In summarize, a final design proposal was made that the product not only inspires users to cook a meal using vegetables, but also helps them to not neglect any leftover vegetables in the refrigerator. This is due to the fact that the Veggie-Table is an integrated system for vegetable storage and preparation.

This graduation project started as a continuation of an earlier design project. The design team Bdot, a group of students from the TU Delft, made a concept design for the company Merford. After the success of the Bdot concept, Merford was inspired to continue development further to a high fidelity prototype or even production. The open workspace, or so called ‘office garden’, is becoming more popular in modern and renovated office spaces. Such office spaces do not have many walls, which offers benefits to work culture development but can also lead to a variety of problems. Research shows that acoustic hindrance is one of the biggest problems found in open workspaces (JMP, 2017). The concept developed during the JMP project provides a solution to that problem. The Pinecone as designed by the JMP group, ended with a concept design and a prototype which showed the sense of scale of the product. This graduation project will focus on three important aspects of the design. First of all, the panel will be redesigned, having a refined finish and look. Secondly, a solution for hanging the acoustic panels had to be designed. From the beginning of this graduation project, the idea came up to make panels modular, and connecting them instead of hanging them on complete rings. Thirdly, the focus was on designing a functional retraction mechanism making the prototype prove that the mechanics will work for the end product. A new design brief was made, including these three focus points. Together with the company Merford and information from the previous design report, a list of criteria was formed for guiding this project. During the exploration phase of this project, numerous resources were reviewed. This gave more information and inspiration for several solutions for each focus area. The development of these focus areas was a very iterative process. Finding solutions, then getting more information through experts, and making revisions of these solutions to find better ones happened multiple times. During this iterative process, the switch between design for end product and design for a show-model had to be made continuously. This means that during the development chapter, conclusions are drawn for both the prototype and for the end design of this project. The prototyping phase focused on getting a working prototype build. The goal of this prototype was to prove the mechanics would work, together with being a show model for Merford. The prototype will eventually hang in the showroom of Merford and will be used for business events and fairs. The final chapter elaborates on the final design of the Pinecone. Materials, production techniques and production series are spoken of in this chapter. The chapter doesn not only give the design of the ‘standard’ Pinecone, but also gives multiple opportunities and possibilities for Merford to sell more Pinecones in the near future.