Design interventions for stimulating bamboo commercialization - Dutch design meets bamboo as a replicable model

Materials have a considerable impact on the environmental sustainability of the products in which they are used. Due to the increasing population and consumption worldwide, more raw materials are consumed than can be produced globally, making especially resource depletion of both abiotic and biotic resources an urgent problem. Due to its good...

Sturen op haalbaarheid en relatie: Interventies om disfunctionele conflicten bij Publiek Private Samenwerking in ruimtelijke ontwikkelingsprojecten te voorkomen

Introduction Conflicts are fascinating. Two urban development projects on which I was involved as a manager both entailed a close working partnership between a local authority and a project developer. Conflicts arose on a regular basis. Following a conflict, a period of mistrust and non-communication would ensue – a form of ceasefire that did...

MRI-Compatible Endovascular Instruments: Improved Maneuverability during Navigation

Endovascular diagnostics and interventions are performed using long, thin and flexible instruments that are inserted in the blood vessel and manipulated toward a target in the vasculature. This technique has proven to be successful with the millions of patients diagnosed and treated worldwide every year. Though, this technique presents several...

Cork Design: A Design Action Intervention Approach Towards Sustainable Product Innovation

The study Cork Design: A Design Action Intervention Approach Towards Sustainable Product Innovation comprises the systematic implementation of sustainable product innovation within the Portuguese cork sector, through action research. Cork is a natural, recyclable, non-toxic, and renewable resource, which stems from the bark of the cork oak in...

Tips for TIPS

The transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) procedure is one of the most technically challenging procedures in interventional radiology. During the procedure, interventional radiologists (IRs) insert very thin and long instruments through a little incision in the patient’s neck. They then navigate the instruments through the blood...

Intertidal Flats in Engineered Estuaries: On the Hydrodynamics, Morphodynamics, and Implications for Ecology and System Management

Intertidal flats — regions of estuaries that emerge every tide from the water — form unique ecosystems. Benthic communities living in the bed are a valuable food source for wading birds. Salt marshes present on these flats further enhance the biodiversity. Through the damping of waves, intertidal flats also contribute to the safety of the...

Anthropogenic effects on the hydro-morphological development of turbid estuaries

Estuarine sediment dynamics involves estuarine hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and morphology, and strongly influence ecosystem dynamics and sustainability. In the current geological epoch, referred to as the Anthropocene, human activities are exerting increasing impacts on the environment on all scales, changing hydrodynamics, sediment...

Measurement and Practice of Transversal Competencies in Engineering Education: Evaluation of Perceptions and Stimulation of Reflections of industry, lecturers and students

The engineering industry has changed in the last decades with the increasing complexity of technology, the global mobility of the engineering profession, the concern with sustainability and social responsibility, and the need for innovation and creativity. This shift has caused employability issues that include both the lack of engineering...

Together we make places: Designing connections in urban space

Place-making initiatives have gained momentum in recent years to establish stronger urban communities. Through place-making, people attach meaning to spaces and they become places. While place-making initiatives have traditionally been designed and implemented from top-down, more and more scholars call for a participatory and bottom-up approach,...

Healthy computer working

Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSI), also known as Work-Related Upper Limb Disorders (WRULD), surged in the early years of this millennium due to computer work. In this thesis, the magnitude, causes and consequences of this phenomenon for the student population of the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering (IDE) at the Delft University of...

The Changjiang Estuary: A highly turbid estuary in transition

Estuaries are the core area of land-sea interactions and have significant ecological and economic value. In estuaries, hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics are the crucial processes governing geomorphology, navigability, and primary production. Since the turn of the 20th century, increased human activities (e.g., damming, dredging, and...

Small-scale hydrological intervention-based research: on systematic planning and perspectives

The world as we know it today has largely been shaped by human intervention. Given the importance of water in particular many small-scale interventions in the hydrological system have been applied. In order to predict and monitor how these interventions affect the hydrological cycle, hydrological research has to be performed. In this thesis,...

Channel response of an engineered river to climate change and human intervention

Humans have intervened in rivers for centuries. River engineering measures have aimed at protecting populations against flooding, ensuring reliable and safe navigation, providing freshwater for drinking, domestic and industrial use, irrigation, and energy supply, and providing opportunities for recreation. All around the world, measures such as...