The number of people working night shifts has been steadily increasing over the past 20 years. Although shift workers have known this for a long time already from first-hand experience, the Dutch national institute for public health and the environment has recently published advice to minimize night (shift) work, as it is detrimental to the physical- and mental health of shift workers. Furthermore, night shifts increase the risk of workplace accidents and put a lot of stress on the social lives of shift workers. Over the years, multiple strategies to combat the negative effects of working night shifts have been developed and used. One method that has recently been gaining popularity in healthcare and industry is power napping. When utilizing power naps to combat the negative effects of night shift work, shift workers take a brief nap during their shift. Power napping during night shifts has been proven to be an effective method for reducing many of the common problems caused by working night shifts. In this graduation project, a new power napping solution, called Asper, has been developed for the company NEWAS B.V.. Asper is the result of an extensive design process with multiple iterations. The process started with an analysis phase, followed by ideation and concept development. During the last phase, product development, the Asper was optimized for manufacturing and assembly. The main goal of the design process was to develop a lay-down power nap solution that enabled night shift workers to take an optimal power nap. Through the integration of multiple design aspects, such as ergonomics, aesthetics, usability and manufacturability, this goal was achieved. The final result is a well-developed design that is ready for its 0th production series.

Vibration exposure is a significant problem in the construction industry. However, the consequences remains underappreciated and largely unaddressed because vibration exposure is difficult to measure and the symptoms often appear after decades of exposure. These symptoms, collectively called hand-arm vibrations syndrome, include loss of sensory and motor function in the hands. Prolonged exposure can lead to these symptoms becoming permanent and severely debilitating Avoiding construction workers are often reluctant to report discomfort and are in a weak position of negotiating better work conditions. The companies on the other hand find adhering to the vibration exposure limits difficult because there are no viable means of reducing exposure. In this thesis a protection device is developed that is specifically aimed to alleviate these problems concerning hand-arm vibrations. Special consideration is taken to directly address vibration exposure. To this end, experiments are done to explore and validate a vibration mitigation technology. A prototype is then developed to implement the result towards a useable protection device.

This paper investigates whether spring-foam technology in an aircraft seatpan can reduce weight and at the same time provides equal or better comfort. Firstly, through literature studies and iterative design process a prototype seatpan was designed and developed using spring-foam technology. This was then tested against standard aircraft seat pan for comfort and discomfort; 22 participants were asked to sit in each seat for 90 minutes while filling out comfort and discomfort questionnaire every 15 minutes. At the end of each seating session, pressure map was taken of the seatpan. The results showed prototype seatpan having significantly higher initial comfort (~0 min.), and at the 35 and 50-minute mark than standard seatpan. Pressure map data showed pressure distribution of the prototype seatpan was found to be significantly closer to an ideal pressure distribution opposed to the conventional seatpan. In addition, the prototype seatpan had a significantly bigger contact area and lower average pressure suggesting a higher comfort. The seat-cushion weighs 20% lower than conventional seat-cushion. The study indicates that a seat pan design using spring-foam technology can be lighter and more comfortable than conventional foam cushion materials.