Research
Who we are
The design.nexus research group of Ghent University Campus Kortrijk aims to build bridges between education, sustainability and industry in the field of technology-driven design and change processes of innovative product/service and consumption/production systems. The group implements interdisciplinary design strategies and practices together with industry and public and private sector organizations.
- More about the team
What we do
design.education
Within design.education, we will effectively integrate practical challenges from real life into the learning environment through problem- and project-based learning and aligned with the demands of companies.
design.sustainability
The lens .sustainability is concerned with the negative consequences arising from industrial production and product design. It investigates and experiments with new ways to bring about a more sustainable future by engaging in various co-design activities.
design.industry
design.industry carries out multidisciplinary applied research on the design for new digital and/or bio-based processes, personalized, changing and scalable production systems
Research labs
Learning Lab
In our Learning Lab, we exchange knowledge on teaching and learning methods and offer training to industry and academic partners by implementing design-based methodologies, such as the Design Thinking methodology and game-based learning.
Bio-Makerspace
The Bio-Makerspaceis a new creative space where students and companies learn to apply the basic principle of Design for a Circular Economy by making prototypes and experimenting with DIY, bio-based and circular materials.
Computational Design & Fabrication Lab
In this lab, we explore and combine the latest digital design techniques with digital production techniques. We explore these digital techniques in order to identify opportunities for new designs.
Digital Design Tools Lab
In our Digital Design Tools lab, we investigate how to use existing digital tools such as Virtual Reality as efficiently as possible in the design process.
Product Design Lab for New Industrial Production (Industry 5.0)
In our Product Design Lab for new industrial production, we will look at how to design products and product systems so that they can be easily and efficiently produced in the manufacturing companies of today and tomorrow.
Medical Product Design Lab
In our Medical Product Development lab, in addition to technical aspects, we also investigate the interactions with patients, doctors, nurses, etc. with the aim of designing the most optimal medical product system.
Overview and additional information on these labs.
Research projects and doctoral research
PROTOTYPING CIRCULAIR
Circular prototyping using bio-based and/or digital production.
T-CREPE / Erasmus +
Textile engineering for co-creation paradigms in education
Circular sprint / Crafth
Additive Manufacturing (AM) for a Circular Economy
Interreg Transfirm
Promoting the development of cross-border activities of students with business plans
Bio-inspired orthopaedic braces
Researching solutions from nature that allow both rigidity and mobility and avoid the negative effects of total immobility.
Click here for a complete overview and additional information on these projects.
Ongoing PhD research
- Ellen De Vos / Make the future visible today: a reflection on the use of design thinking and futures studies techniques to foster creativity
- Lore Brosens / Future-proof design education for Industry 4.0
- Melis Örnekoğlu Selçuk / Research-through-Design for Developing a Co-design Facilitator's game
- Bert Vuylsteke / Study on the opportunities of new circular and bio-based materials for the design process
- Dirk Steuperaert / Validity and worth of IT Governance Frameworks, the COBIT case
- Jan Herregodts / Development of a novel total elbow arthroplasty design based on new insight into the anatomy and biomechanics of the elbow
Click here for a complete overview and additional information on our PhD research.
Publications
An overview of our latest publications