Rick Schifferstein becomes new Director of Delft Design Labs

News - 27 January 2021 - Communication

The Delft Design Labs have a new director: IDE’s Associate Professor, Rick Schifferstein.  Rick tells us more about the role he will be taking on.

“I am very excited to take up the task to develop the Delft Design Labs further and to strengthen their role within IDE. One of the motivators behind setting up the labs was to increase the participation of IDE students in the research of the Faculty. Having set up one of the early Delft Design Labs, the Food & Eating Design Lab, I noticed that organising staff and students, together with external partners around a specific theme creates common ground that stimulates cooperation through the exchange of ideas and methods. The Delft Design Labs websites make the research of the associated staff members more visible to the students. A larger percentage of students now complete their graduation projects within IDE and thereby contribute to knowledge development in the design discipline."

"Regular (virtual) meetings take place in the Delft Design Labs making sure that students do not feel isolated while working on their projects: they can find support in their lab.  One of my challenges will be to see if the labs can play a larger role in the educational programs at IDE. In addition, I would like to enlarge the role of the Delft Design Labs in communicating the strengths of IDE to academic, commercial and societal parties.”