In today’s fast-changing world, creativity is essential for engineering students to succeed. As part of my master’s thesis in Strategic Product Design at the TU Delft, I explored how to identify and stimulate creativity in engineering education. My research focused on the bachelor programs in Aerospace Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering at the TU Delft. I looked at the topic from four different perspectives: the literature, the industry, the education and the student. To understand creativity in engineering students, I developed a model with five key attitudes: being imaginative, disciplined, inquisitive, persevering, and collaborative. Each attitude is linked to three creative habits that students can develop. I also created a student journey to give educators a clear insight into the student’s perspective, based on interviews with students from the Aerospace Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering programs. My research identified four main conflicts that can affect creativity in engineering students: the tension between freedom and structure, the balance between theory and practice, the lack of true teamwork, and the challenge of assessing creativity. For each conflict, I provided recommendations for educators to improve the stimulation of creativity in their students. To put my findings into a broader context, I compared my study to similar research in England and Germany. My conclusions highlight the importance of considering the student’s perspective and the need for educators to adapt their teaching methods to stimulate creativity. My report shows that creativity can be developed in engineering students by understanding their perspective and addressing the conflicts that affect their creative growth.

The ability to navigate ambiguity has become increasingly essential in today’s workplaces. However, while many encounter ambiguous situations, not everyone feels comfortable in making decisions in such contexts. To be well-prepared for the future workplace, university graduates need skills to effectively manage ambiguity. How individuals experience and respond to ambiguous situations reflects their tolerance of ambiguity (TOA), which represents a person’s natural tendency to react to perceived ambiguity with varying levels of comfort and adaptability. Students with low TOA may exhibit rigid thinking, reduced creativity, and heightened anxiety. Therefore, supporting students in developing TOA is critical, and teachers have a key role in facilitating this process. For this project, Delft University of Technology was selected as a higher education case, specifically problem-based learning (PBL) courses as the project focus.
The project employs a design-based research methodology, integrating both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine current practices at TU Delft. Analysis revealed two central challenges: (1) teachers need a closer familiarity with students to provide tailored guidance, and (2) teachers expect students to take action and engage, even when faced with ambiguous situations.
To facilitate teachers in fostering higher levels of TOA in students, an educational tool called “Piece-by-piece game” was designed. It is a puzzle-inspired game that encourages students to discuss the challenges they encounter and explore approaches for addressing them. The game aimed to serve as a way for teachers to become familiar with students and equip students with various approaches to navigate ambiguity, while creating a supportive environment for students to openly discuss challenges they face.
The concept was validated in a pilot session with Communication Design for Innovation (CDI) students at TU Delft. Results indicated that the Piece-by-Piece Game can increase participants’ tolerance of ambiguity and effectively support open communication to discuss challenges and exchange ideas. Participants also found it inspiring and acknowledged its potential for long-term and general use.
This project serves as a foundation for raising educators’ awareness of TOA development. While promising, further evaluation is necessary to assess the game’s effectiveness across diverse student groups. Future research can build on these preliminary insights to refine teaching strategies for PBL. Additionally, the game itself could be experimented in class or problem-solving context in the future.

The integration of Home Energy Management Systems (HEMS) into Taiwan's smart grid infrastructure has been a cornerstone in enhancing energy efficiency. However, uncertainties persisted regarding the extent to which HEMS could effectively bridge the energy efficiency gap. This study investigated HEMS' role as boundary objects, capable of transcending knowledge barriers within complex socio-technical systems. To address these concerns, a comprehensive methodology was employed, guided by a mixed-methods approach comprising a systematic literature review and an interview. The development of the evaluative framework drew insights from the understanding of complex systems and the concept of boundary objects, uncovering the intricate interplay of elements, relationships, and emergent patterns. This framework served to illuminate the nuanced dynamics underlying HEMS adoption, fostering meaning creation and collective efforts, ultimately paving the path for enhanced energy efficiency. The findings elucidated multifaceted interactions between technology, user behaviour, and knowledge boundaries, collectively shaping the potential for energy efficiency enhancement. By amalgamating theoretical insights with practical experiences, the study furnished a comprehensive comprehension of the potential role of HEMS in effectively bridging the energy efficiency gap within Taiwan's evolving smart grid landscape. This research bestowed valuable insights for enhancing energy efficiency and navigating the intricate terrains of energy management, echoing beyond the confines of Taiwan and resonating in the global pursuit of sustainable energy utilisation.

Biodesign plays a critical role in developing innovative solutions, such as carbon capturing with living materials that incorporate photosynthetic organisms. Team effectiveness is a crucial aspect of successful collaboration and has been extensively studied in various fields. However, research on team effectiveness in the emerging field of Biodesign remains limited. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the impact of transdisciplinary collaboration on team effectiveness and proposing strategies for its enhancement in the future.
In scientific teams, factors such as individual expertise, disciplinary composition, and social dynamics significantly influence team effectiveness. Issues related to team leadership, coordination, and communication have been identified as major contributors to problems in many industries.
This study focuses on exploring how the convergence of different scientific backgrounds and individual perspectives within transdisciplinary Biodesign teams influences team effectiveness. By gaining valuable insights into the dynamics at play, this research aims to lay the foundation for the development of a tool that can enhance team effectiveness across Biodesign projects.
To address the research objective, several sub-questions are proposed. The first sub-question explores themes such as team processes, social networks, hierarchy, disciplinarity, and participatory design that impact team effectiveness in scientific teams. A comprehensive literature study will shed light on this sub-question. The second sub-question investigates the specific themes that affect overall team effectiveness in the Biodesign field. An exploratory case study, involving six expert interviews, will provide insights into this sub-question. Finally, the third sub-question explores the potential of leveraging these identified themes to enhance the team effectiveness of a Biodesign research group. This sub-question will be answered by connecting the findings from the literature study to the data obtained from the case study.
In the final phase of this thesis, a tool called the Dual Feedback System (DFS) was developed with the purpose of enhancing team effectiveness in Biodesign and other academic teams. DFS comprises two components: the Satisfaction Survey and the Feedback Meeting. It involves BEP, MEP, or PhD students and their supervisors who complete the survey to provide feedback on different aspects of the ongoing project, including project satisfaction, teamwork, and supervision. The survey results serve as the foundation for the subsequent Feedback Meeting, which aims to facilitate open communication and bridge the existing hierarchical gap between participants, fostering a collaborative and constructive environment.
Overall, this thesis contributes to our understanding of team effectiveness in the Biodesign field and provides valuable insights in how collaborations can be improved and team effectiveness in transdisciplinary research teams can be enhanced. The findings serve as the basis for the development of DFS, designed to enhance team effectiveness in Biodesign and other academic teams. The implementation of this tool within teams at TU Delft will further amplify its impact, particularly in important areas such as sustainability.

Academic research is inherently cooperative, with researchers exchanging information through formal publications as well as direct messaging. Academia are, however, becoming increasingly competitive: limited financial resources and research spots, among other things, may now affect how researchers cooperate and interact in general. In the current study, the congruence of cooperative and competitive interactions in academia was investigated. To this end, the existing knowledge on the competition and cooperation amalgamation "coopetition", coined for industry relationships, was used. A theoretical framework on coopetition and related theories relavant to academic relationships was constructed. This framework was used to conduct an online survey on academic coopetition among academic microscopy researchers in the Netherlands. The results suggested that competition and cooperation in academia are related yet separate, so that an increase in one does not necessitate a decrease in the other and vice versa. Additionally, the survey responses suggested a discrepancy between the respondents' reported competitive sentiments and those apparent from their other answers. To address this discrepancy, and help academic researchers reflect on what competition and cooperation mean to them, the interactive Guide for Introspection on Competition and Cooperation (GICCo) was developed.

In the ever-changing landscape of the 21st century, complex issues like climate change demand holistic solutions. However, traditional scientific approaches often fall short by employing reductionism, breaking problems into isolated parts. This executive summary introduces a thesis that calls for a shift towards a more holistic and interdisciplinary perspective in the field of biotechnology. It outlines a three-phase research approach, seeking to cultivate a 'holistic' mindset within this academic discipline.

Phase 1 explores contextual influences on inter- and transdisciplinary mindsets in biotechnology. By introducing unusual triggers, such as artworks, researchers induce shifts in participants' perspectives. Emotions and cognitive dissonance emerge as key drivers of change, emphasizing the role of context in shaping mindsets.

Phase 2 delves into defining factors that continuously nurture a 'holistic' mindset. It highlights the importance of preserving individuality while fostering connections, utilizing boundary objects for effective communication, and leveraging emotions as triggers for reflective conversations.

Phase 3 involves the design of the "Out of Context!" tool, aimed at supporting interdisciplinary practices and the development of a 'holistic' mindset among biotechnology professionals. The tool is designed with criteria that ensure contextual relevance, creative discussions, integration of personal beliefs, support for minor interactions, and the establishment of a common ground.

This research offers a novel approach to fostering interdisciplinary thinking in biotechnology and could inform the development of a 'holistic' mindset within the field. It emphasizes the need for practitioners and researchers to share their experiences, ultimately advancing interdisciplinary practices in biotechnology. The effective implementation and evaluation of the "Out of Context!" tool are crucial, as it has the potential to transform discussions within the field, furthering the practice of inter- and transdisciplinarity in biotechnology.

We live in a society where our decisions are increasingly based on research, data, and modeling. The role of research institutions like Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) is to both educate future engineers and to produce research outputs that support our data-driven society. However, research is an ongoing way of regulating and realizing the underlying codes of colonialism (Smith, 1999). Universities are complicit in perpetuating the asymmetrical power relationships that exist in society by occupying a role of “well-intentioned post-colonial saviors” (Anthony-Stevens & Matsaw Jr, 2020). This positioning is embedded in TU Delft’s strategic vision and mission to educate socially responsible engineers who can contribute to solving global problems in collaboration with societal actors. If we claim to value inclusion and diversity within our institution, then we must also critically consider our role in upholding colonial systems. To decolonize our university is to engage in an ongoing process of 1) understanding the lasting impacts of colonization on our educational systems and research practices; and 2) actively uplifting the voices and perspectives of those who have historically been (and continue to be) excluded and underrepresented in academic spaces. The intention to make our research and education inclusive must be accompanied by concrete action. This thesis attempts to redefine meaningful inclusion within the data science community at TU Delft through a lens of decolonization and social justice. I suggest ways to make inclusion actionable by highlighting how the community is already providing the conditions necessary for meaningful inclusion. I also point out how our academic culture and bureaucracy need to shift to allow for greater participation. Finally, I reflect on how our mindset needs to change so that we (specifically researchers already within academia who already possess a certain amount of privilege) can take greater responsibility to support inclusive community.

The continual increase in cyber crime revolving blockchain applications calls for secure blockchain systems and clarity on the division of security responsibilities. This research is an integrated project between two master programmes at the Delft University of Technology: Computer Science and Communication Design for Innovation, and focuses on software testing and security responsibilities.

In this study, we investigate if grammar-based fuzzing, a popular approach for identifying bugs in software, is effective on JSON-RPC systems like blockchain applications Ripple and Ethereum. Furthermore, we evaluate whether we can improve upon traditional grammar-based fuzzing by using evolutionary search.
We introduce GEFRA, a black-box grammar-based fuzzing tool that generates tests for JSON-RPC APIs.
Using a diversity-based fitness function that leverages system feedback, GEFRA is able to effectively guide the search process towards new test cases that obtain additional test coverage.

Additionally, various perspectives on blockchain security responsibilities are investigated. A media content analysis was performed and interviews were conducted with legal and blockchain experts.
News media frequently frame end users as responsible for the prevention of blockchain attacks. While attackers are legally responsible, users are left to deal with the consequences if attackers cannot be found. Responsibilities generally end up with users as decentralisation is the core idea of blockchain. Legislation may be the only solution to define a clear division of responsibilities.

Transdisciplinary research can be a powerful means to achieve a change in society. This participatory form of research is becoming increasingly common in climate and energy research. However, transdisciplinary research can be challenging. Which role should a researcher adopt when collaborating with societal actors? This master thesis focuses on challenges around transdisciplinary researcher-roles at a specific academic research institute: the Center for climate and energy transformation (CET) at the University of Bergen in Norway. Through design-based research, the thesis developed a tool that can help starting researchers at CET (students and PhD-candidates) to reflect on these challenges. First, a descriptive case-study at CET analyzed which challenges researchers at CET face, using semi-structured interviews, logbooks and focus groups. Next, the research designed a reflection tool, using brainstorming techniques, prototype evaluations session and a test session. The resulting reflection tool is a card-game that makes CET-researchers exchange ideas about which roles to adopt in a playful way. Through the game, the CET-researchers learn a new language with which they can talk about researcher roles. They widen their repertoire to think and speak about what they want to contribute to transdisciplinary collaborations and how they can do that. This can help them when making role-divisions in researcher-teams and when discussing expectations with collaboration partners. Helping the academic changemaker reflect on their role in transdisciplinary collaboration – it is a crucial step towards creating more conscious and purposeful collaborations with the ability to transform society in the face of climate change.

Throughout the work, the goal was to develop the physical layer of a quantum network stack. The layer of the network stack connected to the physical layer is the link layer. For entanglement-based quantum networks, we demonstrated the successful operation of a link layer and a physical layer. The physical layer’s entanglement generation procedure—implemented here using two NV center-based quantum network nodes—is abstracted by the link layer into a robust platform-independent service that can be utilized to run quantum networking applications. Other quantum network platforms using the approaches provided here (which are not unique to our diamond devices) will accelerate the development of large-scale and heterogeneous quantum networks.

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A vision is developed on how successful university-industry collaborations can be established in the field of quantum technology development. By looking at the stakeholders, purpose and type of collaboration, and influencing factors, a three-step model is developed to move from awareness to acceptance to collaboration. By overcoming the existing barriers, university-industry collaborations can be successfully realized.

In this work, we studied future expansions of a synthetic cell with a dual perspective. For the Nanobiology part, we studied how the membrane surface area of a synthetic cell can grow, which is required for a synthetic cell to divide. Here, we combined growth strategies based on DNA and tension-mediated vesicle fusion. We found that 1 μM DNA and an osmotic shock optimise fusion efficiency, and we showcased the broad applicability of our fusion protocol. Furthermore, we observed indications of membrane growth, with a potential increase in membrane surface area sufficient for sustained synthetic cell division. For the Science Communication part, we studied the vision of the Synthetic Cell Initiative to build a European innovation ecosystem. The purpose of this innovation ecosystem is to develop synthetic cell applications through co-production. We propose that this innovation ecosystem should be formed through local synthetic cell hubs. By the promotion of bottom-up initiatives and the execution of top-down activities, responsible research and innovation can be internalised in the envisioned innovation ecosystem.

Like many cities in sub-Saharan Africa, Kumasi, Ghana is facing greater groundwater demands in part due to rapid urbanization. However, currently Ghana does not systematically monitor groundwater, which poses a challenge in management and implementation of science-based policy. Additionally, coordination among stakeholders in Ghana’s water sector has been described as inadequate by the National Water Policy which results in greater obstacles in water resource management. In order to simultaneously address these issues, value sensitive design is implemented to synergize diverse stakeholder perspectives to develop groundwater management and monitoring strategies. Value sensitive design provides a theoretical basis for explicitly incorporating values into innovations. In order to address the goal of the study, 46 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the Kumasi water sector were conducted as well as literature and policy reviews.
The first research question aims to identify key stakeholders and their role in groundwater management. The results identifed over 40 stakeholder groups in the Kumasi water sector. However, the most well-known groups are Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the Water Resources Commission (WRC). In addition to these government organizations, technical experts, specifically affiliated with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), were cited as necessary to involve in the development of a groundwater monitoring technology.
The second research question seeks to identify practical considerations for groundwater monitoring. Here, there was a general negative view of groundwater management with challenges including limited regulation, lack of awareness for groundwater issues, and limited collaboration among groundwater stakeholders. To address these challenges, the most cited design requirement mentioned during the interviews was the need for mass education on water related concerns. Lastly, there were significant concerns among many of the interviewees about borehole drilling and the importance of informal communication between drillers and neighbors to ensure safe and sustainable access to groundwater.
The third research question uses value sensitive design protocols to create value profiles for each of the stakeholder groups. The values incorporated in this study are economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, safety, social equity, participation, reliability, and trust. Respondents were asked, through a token allocation activity, to indicate what values are important for groundwater monitoring. Although the value profiles between stakeholder groups were not statistically different, the anecdotal evidence from interviews suggests that participation is connected to other values. This indicates that participation contributes to achieving other values in the implementation of a groundwater monitoring program.
The last research question sought to identify communication tools to incorporate considerations derived from the research questions, case studies, Ghanaian water policy, and a theoretical framework based on participatory design. This resulted in the recommendation of three parallel strategies: a) multi-stakeholder involvement, b) technology development and c) a water education campaign. The programs are designed to operate in a cyclic manner based on a social learning model specific to water management. This will enable a groundwater monitoring technology to be developed (b) alongside a water education campaign (c) in the community where water will be monitored. Implementation of a multistakeholder advisory board to coordinate these efforts and facilitate collaboration will ensure a participatory process. The next steps are to disseminate findings to key stakeholders in the Ghana water sector and continuously adapt the action plans as new information is identified.

Collaborative Innovation can serve to elevate the production potential of firms and organisations as well as preparing them for the future. This process of two organisations collaborating together is very complex and becomes even more difficult when organisations are large and very different in their organisational culture or function. This research describes the design of a tool to aid Collaborative Innovative Capacity in public - private organisational partnerships. The research is based on a case study within the Dutch national rail infrastructure management organisation and focuses on the relationship between this organisation and its maintenance contractors. Through literature research and semi-structured interviews the studied situation is found to consist of two parties trying to innovate together using an imperfect collaborative system. Their separate, struggling relationships with this system are not shared or understood by the other party. This gives rise to a wall of misunderstanding. The designed tool is based on the assumption that through better understanding of the barriers which are present in the other party’s struggling relationship with the collaborative system, the wall of misunderstanding can be lowered which in turn increases Collaborative Innovative Capacity in the public - private organisational partnership. This tool takes the form of a serious game which presents players with scenarios which (potentially) hinder them in their game objective. These scenarios are representations of real-world barriers to innovation. Through confronting players with scenarios which are related to another organisational role than the one they occupy in their professional life, they should gain new perspectives about the struggling relationship of the other party with the collaborative system. Thereby lowering the wall of misunderstanding and increasing Collaborative Innovative Capacity. The results of the design and preliminary testing show that the developed serious game does have an effect in the form of gained attitudes towards the importance of sharing different experienced barriers towards innovations with one another. However measurements show no actual newly gained insights into practical barriers which were not already known to the players. While further research, more extensive testing and measurements, and further specification and expansion of scenarios can be undertaken to increase the value of this tool, after reconsideration a revised design objective is formulated which focuses on the interaction between the participants and relaxes its rigid view on the wall between them. This could yield a tool which is more in tune with the essence of the problem which would also cause it to be much simpler in nature.

The forensic investigation is one of the first steps in the criminal investigation process concerning home invasion robberies. The forensic investigation consists of objectively capturing the crime scene as it is when starting the investigation. Regarding home invasion robberies, the most important traces are fingerprints and DNA which are used for identification of individual suspects. Currently, there is little knowledge about the process of a secured trace to a result used in court.
Crime scene investigators are confronted with multiple decisions during the investigation and it is important to know with what goal in mind an investigator acts on the crime scene, as this influences the decision-making. The forensic data obtained from the forensic investigation is shared within a forensic data infrastructure. This infrastructure consists of the following criminal justice system partners involved in the process from crime scene investigation to conviction: crime scene investigators, detectives, experts at forensic laboratories, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges. These partners are all contributing in different ways and at different times.
The forensic data infrastructure comes with sensibilities and tensions, such as tunnel vision, incomplete crime scene investigation reports, misunderstandings and one-way communication. Solving these sensibilities and tensions is crucial to the functioning of the infrastructure.
By use of a questionnaire, insights are provided into the goals and aspects of the forensic investigation that are important to the involved partners. The goals important to crime scene investigators differ little from the goals of other involved partners. The questionnaire results are reflected on in an expert reflection session. This session is part of the participatory design, which contributes in creating a mutual understanding of needs between partners. A second expert session is developed to fulfill these needs and implement solutions to solve sensibilities and tensions in an optimized forensic investigation.
The optimization process includes the optimization of the forensic investigation itself and the optimization of the forensic data infrastructure by proposing a structured forensic investigation scheme. A new experiment is presented to analyze the optimized forensic investigation.

Collaborations are often transdisciplinary whereby people with different backgrounds need to be able to work together and therefore share knowledge. This means people have to cross knowledge boundaries. Crossing these boundaries can be done with boundary objects that help to transfer knowledge across these boundaries (Carlile, 2002, 2004). Touch can expand the vocabulary that people have at their disposal and therefore contribute to making transferring experiential knowledge and crossing boundaries easier.

To make the research of how touch can be applied to enhance transdisciplinary learning more concrete, a specific context has been chosen, namely the organization ‘Centre of Expertise Societal Innovation’. Within this organization, they want to create learning communities whereby knowledge is shared and preserved between students and others stakeholders in consecutive projects. This has led to the following research questions:

“How to improve the transition between graduation projects within the Urban Innovation program of EMI with a haptic language design to preserve knowledge within the different communities of practice.”

The knowledge that the organization wants to preserve is so-called tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is hard to express in words. Therefore, guidance is needed to help people express their tacit knowledge. From the theory of transdisciplinary learning, it is retrieved that the 7 habits of the mind are important to foster transdisciplinary learning. These habits also include using the senses of the human body. Therefore, it is interesting to combine transdisciplinary learning by expressing tacit knowledge with the senses of the human body. Especially the sense of touch is interesting to use because touch can deepen communication and is one of the most versatile senses.

The literature study in combination with exploratory research on how touch can be used in communication, has resulted in 6 haptic design principles for transdisciplinary learning. These principles can be used by designers that want to create physical haptic designs for transdisciplinary learning. The 6 haptic principles are:

1. Haptic design triggers people to touch it
2. Haptic design makes people conscious of touch
3. Haptic design enables different touch experiences
4. Haptic design translates and adjusts between different disciplines by providing the same meaning for everyone
5. Haptic design evokes interaction between users
6. Haptic design gives people the tools to make their thoughts and ideas tangible

With the principles, a final concept design has been created, called MIMIC. MIMIC is a haptic language design that helps users to express their internal thoughts, ideas, and feelings by providing tools to make these internal thoughts, ideas, and feelings tangible. Translating to external forms will make it easier for others to understand. MIMIC consists out of two sets of cubes, the basic set made of wooden cubes with different weights, and the haptic set of cubes with different materials from 10 categories on each side cubes. Furthermore, a guide, an instruction sheet, and warming-up exercises are created to give guidance to users for sharing relevant knowledge and the use of the haptic language in general.

Q\&A fora have developed into a precious tool for online knowledge exchange. Being community-driven, openly accessible and free, getting an answer to a complicated question can nowadays be a matter of minutes. This research investigates the specific case of gis.stackexchange, a technical Q&A forum used by Geographic Information Systems professionals. A central topic is the interaction between users. Based on existing research, an automated approach is elaborated and a big data analysis is performed. Also, a link between the outcomes and self-reflective behaviour found on the community meta forum is established. Factors positively influencing interaction as defined by the approach are identified (implication of the author(s), presence of images and code snippets). Furthermore, weaknesses such as the low share of interactions associated to an alteration (of the original post) are also discussed. These outcomes eventually lead to a series of recommendations for the forum itself and related formats.

System identification techniques to analyse movement disorders are in development, but concrete clinical evidence to receive broad support from the clinical world is lacking. This master thesis proposes two ways to accelerate their development as part of the master’s programmes in Mechanical Engineering and Science Communication. The Mechanical Engineering part focuses on the development of system identification techniques themselves. For this study, an ensemble-based algorithm is developed to identify intrinsic and reflexive joint stiffness during voluntary movements. The algorithm combines two methods from previous research: the Parallel-Cascade method to separate intrinsic and reflexive stiffness and an instrumental variable approach to allow subjects to carry out voluntary movements and apply closed-loop identification. A simulation and experimental study are conducted with the human wrist joint in which a sinusoidal angle reference trajectory is followed using multiple realisations of the same trial. To elicit the modulation of intrinsic parameters, a torque field is applied that is linearly dependent on the wrist angle with a greater flexion resulting in a higher torque. In the simulation study, the intrinsic and reflexive pathways are separated and over 98% of the variance is explained. In the experimental study, the modulation of intrinsic stiffness is estimated with an explained variance of over 90%. Intrinsic stiffness is highest during the peaks of the trajectory and lower during the transition phase from one peak to another. However, the torque response of the experimental study shows that no significant extra torque is added during the reflexive EMG peak. The obtained results underline the promising potential of the algorithm and open up new possibilities once the algorithm is tested on an experimental task where more reflexes are elicited. The Science Communication part focuses on developing a shared mental model to transfer knowledge on the processes behind cross-disciplinary collaborations to mechanical engineers, as devoting time and effort to the metacognitive process helps in coping with it. However, most theories on cross-disciplinarity are written from a social sciences paradigm and are inherently difficult to interpret from a mechanical engineering paradigm. An analogy is developed to link concepts from both epistemologies together. This is done by assembling a theoretical framework containing concepts on the processes behind cross-disciplinary collaborations. These concepts are linked to analogous counterparts from mechanical engineering by relying on conceptual similarities between mechanical stiffness and collaborative pliability. As a result, knowledge of cross-disciplinary collaborations can be immersed with existing conceptual knowledge of mechanical stiffness. Collaboration theories become part of the primary discipline instead of being treated as a separate discipline. The model, called the Collaborative Pliability Model, is assessed by a group of six mechanical engineering students. The students considered the model to be an effective tool for learning about cross-disciplinary collaborations. By using the model, they came up with numerous new factors affecting the success of their collaborative process. This gives a promising outlook for the future and opens the door for new applications for developing an analogy used to transfer knowledge between specific target groups.

This research project proposes a theoretical gamified design of a storytelling platform to engage TU Delft researchers into proactive submission of story ideas to co-create online storytelling for wide audiences. While universities have focused on improving communication with the general public in the past decades, researchers may still find barriers to engage in public communication of science. One of these barriers is proactive media contact, as the scientific community may perceive it as outside of the researchers’ role and subject the “transgressor” to informal peer-based sanctions. By assessing a sample of TU Delft researchers’ attitude towards an online TU Delft non-profit storytelling platform for internal and external communication similar to the target one, response efficacy proved to be the primary variable to motivate TU Delft researchers to engage in co-creation of online storytelling. The findings further confirm existing theories that younger and more intrinsically motivated researchers seem more willing to engage in online storytelling compared to older and more extrinsically motivated peers. The study translated these guidelines into a gamified design based on graph force models that challenge researchers to create tags related to their story, and form connections with peers within the TU Delft. To access these functionalities, TU Delft researchers must register to the platform by submitting a story idea, e.g. related to their researcher or field of study, and be willing to co-create online storytelling if their story is chosen. The design targets different groups of users by balancing the experience through the Octalysis framework, and implementing social points, competitions among faculties and badges. According to an evaluation with the case owner and a gamification expert of the first iteration of the design, rewarding the submission of stories with a network, seem effective in engaging TU Delft researchers to submit story ideas proactively and enhance collaboration and innovation with the TU Delft.

This project has researched the consequences of blockchain technology on the
expected future role of banks. And furthermore, how banks can respond to these effects to improve the innovation strategy and remain their future relevance.