About Me
I am involved as a researcher and educator in the bachelor programme ' Creative Technology' teaching courses on Programming and Physical Computing, Sensors and a creative hackathon. In the I-Tech programme I give two design-oriented courses: Mastering Tinkering and Social Robot Design. Other contributions are the CuriousU summerschool on Robot Interaction Design and an introduction into robotics in the 'Smart Cities' HTHT module.
Furthermore, I try to maintain a blog on personal DIY projects at retrointerfacing.com, a central site on my activities at edwindertien.nl and a site on technical activities for art and theatre at kunstentechniekwerk.nl. Since 2013 I am co-founder of the ASSortiMENS foundation running a FabLab inspired workshop for people with autism.
Expertise
Organisations
Publications
- Make Magazine # 50 featured our work on pneumatic wearables
UT Research Information System
Google Scholar Link
Education
I teach mainly in the BSc program Creative Technology and in the I-Tech MSc program. A short introduction to my MSc courses can be found in this video.
I like to use a hands-on approach, always linking theory to practical (tangible) experience. By building things for real, as quickly and as realistic as possible, you can discover so many interesting aspects of your design problem, that simply don't show up on the whiteboard or in calculation.
Affiliated Study Programmes
Bachelor
Master
Courses Academic Year 2023/2024
Courses Academic Year 2022/2023
Projects
I am (part-time) employed as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Twente. I teach mostly in the Creative Technology BSc program and the Interaction Technology MSc program. As a researcher, I am affiliated with the Robotics and Mechatronics group and with the DesignLab. I work on research projects involving social robotics and wearables – and industrial robots for service and maintenance.
Current Projects
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tinkering
A topic I am much interested in, from the perspective as maker and educator, is ‘tinkering’. Together with Angelika Mader, we try to find a place to -fit- tinkering into academia, both in (co)design methods for artefacts, tangibles and embodiment as well as a method for teaching and education. We teach an MSc level course ‘Mastering Tinkering’, not in the least for ourselves to increase our understanding. We have been developing and piloting a number of tinkering toolkits for wearable technology.
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WEAFING
Wearable Electroactive Fabrics Integrated in Garments
Goal of the EU funded project WEAFING is to develop actuated haptic wearables powered by woven or knitted electroactive polymers. At the University of Twente two parts of this project are researched: the haptics (in the HMI group) and modelling and simulation (in the RaM group)
Finished Projects
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PIRATE
Pipe Inspection Robot for Autonomous Exploration
Media
As an invited speaker I really enjoy sharing my enthusiasm as maker and designer, I think it is very important that IF we continue to use technology in a sustainable way, we should be able to take it apart, repair it, improve it and make it our own.
From the listed media appearances below I'm most fond of contributing to an episode of 'Het Klokhuis' - I remember watching this program as a child, so it felt really special to be on the other side of the camera for once. I seriously enjoy the medium television, and due to covid-19 have been enthusiastically recording my own lectures.
In the press
- Tubantia about 'We Gaan Het Maken'
- We Gaan Het Maken (BNN/VARA) (2021)
- Proefkonijnen (BNN/VARA), social robots (2020)
- MENS#31 (VN), social robots, autism, podcast (2020)
- De Volkskrant, LEGO and creativity (2020)
- Tubantia, furbies and social robots (2020)
- Het Klokhuis (NTR), humanoids (2019)
- Focus (NPO), social robots, autism (2019)
- De Wereld Draait Door (BNN/VARA), humanoid robot (2018)
- Het Lab (National Geographic) building robots, social robots (2017)
- De Ingenieur, 'de zorgende robotknutselaar' (2016)
- De Buitendienst, a robot as pet (2016)
- Hart van Nederland, laser sword student workshop (2016)
- Dagelijkse Dosis Design, wearables (2016)
- Vrij Nederland - Nerd 101 (2015)
- Tijd voor Meldpunt (MAX) pipe inspection robot (2015)
- De Wereld Leert Door (BNN/VARA), social robots - with Vanessa Evers (2013)
- TEDx Zwolle, technology and autism (2013)
- TEDx Amsterdam, the dancing white man (2012)
News on utwente.nl
- shaping2030 stories (2021)
- u-today, utwente.nl we gaan het maken (2021)
- interview in Utoday (2017)
- Dutch Design Week, flexo project (2019)
- art piece 'squarewave' in the DesignLab (2017)
- video on Social Robots (2017)
- Student battle - nerf modification workshop (2017)
- artwork in Hal B (main entrance building) (2015)
- lecture series in the Rijksmuseum Twenthe (2015)
- MakerFaire Twente (2015)
- VN Nerd 101 list nomination
- 3D printing technology (2014)
- UT education award (2013)
- Exhibition at Gogbot (2012)
- UT education award (2012)
- EEMCS education award (2012)
- Solo Exhibition in 'the Vrijhof' (2011)
- concept design for Hal B artwork (2010)
- 'fietstaxi' art project (2010)
- exhibition at Gogbot (2010)
- exhibition at Gogbot (2009)
- inspection robot for gas distribution mains (2007)
- Dynamic Walking conference (2006)
Contact Details
Visiting Address
University of Twente
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Carré
(building no. 15), room C3413
Hallenweg 23
7522NH Enschede
The Netherlands
Mailing Address
University of Twente
Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Carré
C3413
P.O. Box 217
7500 AE Enschede
The Netherlands
Organisations
Additional Contact Information
- personal website: edwindertien.nl
- DIY bog: retrointerfacing.com
- workshop / foundation: assortimens.nl
- gallery: XPO.nu