Graduation opportunities

Graduation opportunity: Design of an on-line tool that enables innovators (often product managers, R&D managers and/or strategic marketing managers) to structure their front end of innovation process, while integrating sustainability as core deliverable in their innovation projects. The front end of innovation is often referred to as "the fuzzy front end”. From experience we know this doesn’t have to be the case. A well-structured approach strongly helps: - to speed up the early phase of an innovation project - to improve the briefing at start of a development project - to reduce risks and loops in the development process - To maximise impact at delivery Besides this, In a world of increasing scarcity of materials and an increasing pressure to reduce waste, we see circular design as a fruitful tool to improve the competitiveness of a company

In the context of the Healthy Start programme, a collaboration between Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Erasmus Medical Centre, we are working on a 4-year PhD project on the role of youth participation in understanding and tackling street harassment in Rotterdam. Street harassment remains a major problem in Rotterdam. About half of the respondents in an evaluation by the Municipality of Rotterdam felt sexually intimidated in 2020. Research often focuses on the coping strategies and consequences of street harassment. At the same time, we still do not fully understand why this behaviour actually occurs. In this graduation, we therefore want to explore with youth how this behaviour comes about and how we can prevent it or turn it into positive behaviour.

First responders like the police, ambulance and fire brigade have to wear heavy and protective clothing for longer periods of time, often in hot environments. Cooling is currently done with passive cooling vests which are first precooled in the freezer and last only 20 to 30 minutes. Active cooling vests pump cold water to a series of flexible tubes. In this project, we will explore a new way of cooling using foam elements which are expected to have both a better cooling efficiency and a higher wearing comfort.

*looking for a dutch speaking student* Samen spelen is essentieel voor de fysieke, sociale, emotionele en cognitieve ontwikkeling van kinderen. Daarbij is buiten spelen de belangrijkste bijdrager aan een fysiek actieve leefstijl met positieve effecten op de algehele gezondheid, met doorwerking naar de volwassen leeftijd. Helaas spelen kinderen met een lichamelijke beperking weinig buiten, gehinderd door zowel fysieke (zoals ontoegankelijke en onbruikbare speelplekken) als sociale barrières (zoals moeilijk om contact te maken, buitengesloten worden). Dit heeft een grote impact op hun leven. Zij voelen zich dan ook vaak eenzaam. Dit staat haaks op artikel 31 van het Kinderrechtenverdrag waarin gesteld wordt dat óók kinderen met een beperking mee moeten kunnen doen.