Testimonials

Student experiences

ISP Student Art & Design

Charlie Rijvers

"Finally found the course I had been looking for!" Master's student Human-Technology Interaction Charlie Rijvers tells about our ISP innovation through Art & Design course: "I never felt technology and art had to be two completely separate things. Yet in high school and during my bachelor’s they were. Technology and art, however, both ask you to be creative. I’m happy to now finally learn more about where these two fields meet and how I can apply my technical and psychological skills in the wonderful field of art." Click for more information about the course.

Team Manager Solar Team Eindhoven

Wisse Bos

Wisse Bos recently graduated from TU/e bachelor Industrial Engineering and is Team Manager of student team Solar Team Eindhoven. We interviewed him about his experience as a TU/e student with his curricular and extra-curricular activities: "I joined team Solar to apply my knowledge practically and work on a project for a higher purpose. As the team manager, I learn practical skills such as keeping an overview, networking, and understanding organizations’ operations. I also learn about other disciplines and how they work. I apply theories learned in my Bachelor Industrial Engineering and better understand their relevance." Click to read the full interview.

From ISP Student team to start-up

Student team Stressless

In an interview with Innovation Origins, the team members of Stressless reflect on what they learned during the ISP innovation and entrepreneurship processes course. David Lodder concludes: “Of many things I learned, I’d mention the mental aspect. Dealing not necessarily with setbacks but with feedback that wasn’t what you expected and how that might impact your motivation. In a way, to get comfortable in an uncomfortable zone.” Gijs Boekweit adds: "This course gave us a chance to experience what the real world is about. Interacting with the challenge owner was a rocky road to drive in, but it helped us learn things that we wouldn’t have learned in a theory class.” Click to read the interview with the team, and their coach Gert Guri.

From ISP student to co-founder & CEO at Aristotle Technologies

Maurits Overmans

"The TU/e innovation Space Project (ISP) ensures rapid personal and professional development. No matter if you want to make an impact as an engineer, entrepreneurial engineer, or entrepreneur. It is an amazing opportunity to form a diverse and multidisciplinary team to solve the challenge of a pioneering organization in the Brainport region. The validation that this enables you to do is valuable in determining the technical, commercial, and financial feasibility of your execution of the solution. You can finish this project with your co-founders, a launching customer, and an amazing network that will support your journey towards making an impact on society." Click for more information about the course.

ISP student Art & Design

Luna

"In the Art & Tech course, I got to work with a very diverse team of students from different fields like ID, ME, Nuclear Fusion, EE & ICT. We were all challenged by two cool artists/designers who gave us tons of stuff to research, and we even got to visit places like Effenaar, Amsterdam Dance Event and Mojo, and talk to experts. Next to working on some new tech, we were encouraged not to lose sight of our own learning goals and to do a lot of hands-on prototyping and experimentation, which resulted in both a new sync tool for DJs and a smoke machine. Some of us are continuing to work on it with an entertainment company. Who knows, your might see the result at a concert soon ;-)" Click for more information about the course.

Meet Ivy van Dongen

Master student, TU/e Contest participant and member of team HART

My name is Ivy van Dongen, and I am a first-year Master's student studying Industrial Design at TU/e. I came across TU/e innovation Space during my bachelor's degree when I participated in the TU/e Contest with the concept, HEXO. Although my team didn't win, the experience was an absolute blast! We had the opportunity to learn from and speak with partners, develop business models, and discover how to turn our idea into a marketable product. The entrepreneurial insights I gained from this experience were something I missed during my regular bachelor's program.

While reflecting on the great experiences I had with the Challenge-Based Learning approach of TU/e Innovation Space during the TU/e contest, I decided to join a student team in September as an additional challenge alongside my Master's studies. There were many interesting teams to choose from, but I ultimately selected Team HART as they were working in a domain (Human Augmentation) that was new to me, making it even more intriguing. The team is relatively small but really multidisciplinary team with students that are driven to reach beyond regular human senses to become more than human and achieve freedom of experience.

Since then, I've had the opportunity to do many exciting things, such as exhibiting at the Dutch Design Week, a bucket list item for many designers. However, the most intriguing aspect of

student teams is the dynamic in which each member brings particular skills or knowledge to the table, stemming from their studies at TU/e or other experiences, while also learning equally from others. During the past few months, I've learned both soft and hard skills that have already had a significant positive impact on my study/work projects and professional skills, while simultaneously achieving milestones with our team.

"TU/e innovationSpace has brought us a great platform to start our entrepreneurial journey on! While we may have been atypical in our upstart (earning revenue from the get-go as opposed to starting at ideation like most student projects), we nevertheless greatly enjoyed the company of so many people with a similar attitude! The all-important network, socials, subsidy opportunities, coaching, and workshops really help to keep your game on point and discover opportunities you would never get when working your way up from your attic. For free! Rethinking and tuning your business plan will become a habit rather than a chore. This puts great purpose to your actions as you maintain an overview. Set your gaze on the horizon and set sail as an entrepreneur from the safe haven that is TU/e innovationSpace!"

- Tiemen Schuijbroek, Co-Founder of Ratio

Meet Vijay Vivekanandan

Master student, Student Assistant and TU/e Contest Participant

My name is Vijay Vivekanandan and I study MSc. Automotive Technology at TU/e. I initially came across innovation space during my application stages, and the concept of Challenge-Based Learning (CBL) was something that immediately caught my attention. I was really curious to explore the concept of CBL, and my first interaction was during the Master Kick-Off challenge day. I took part in one of the many themed inter-disciplinary challenges arranged, and our team went on to win in the category! The whole experience of brainstorming, ideating, defining, and pitching an idea to solve a real-world problem, as an interdisciplinary team, was very interesting and unique. 

With that being the starting point, I went on to attend multiple workshops that happen in TU/e innovation space constantly, such as ideation, pitching and problem definition. TU/e innovation Space is actually a place that really resonates and lives up to its name. The moment you walk in, you just get so inspired seeing everyone working ambitiously with so much enthusiasm – be it people working in the prototyping facilities, student teams, students and coaches in a CBL activity or a group of students just getting started on an idea!

The whole ecosystem is so vibrant and ambitious, and hence, when I got an opportunity to join as a Student Assistant in TU/e innovation space, I took it up with great excitement! The most unique thing about TU/e innovation space is that you are not bound by limits in terms of exploring an idea. If you have an idea and you are really motivated by it, you can get all the support from defining the idea to entrepreneurship. An even better thing is that you do not necessarily need to have an idea in the first place, as you get learning opportunities on how to identify problems and ideate. 

For example, the annually occurring TU/e Contest in TU/e innovation Space serves as a good launchpad whether you are in the ideation or prototyping phase, with many industrial partners who get on board as advisors and potential stakeholders. Fun fact is that I’ve registered for the 2023 TU/e Contest edition in the ideation phase, just to explore how viable and feasible my idea could be in the eyes of experienced entrepreneurs and coaches.

In summary, if you have a go-get attitude and an entrepreneurial spirit, it is all that you need to get started at TU/e innovation space, to create real-world impact with your ideas! 

‘’TU/e innovation Space plays a key role in my teaching as it offers me the space and inspiration to innovate my education and make it impactful. In the BSC course Responsible Innovation students work on real-world projects, supervised by societal stakeholders. Students work on these challenges in TU/e innovation Space, exchange ideas with other teams and can transform their ideas into prototypes and products. TU/e innovation Space offers the ideal platform and tools for realizing this. Yet, TU/e innovation Space is much more than that. It is a community of enthusiastic professionals and students who want to make an impact in the world and want to contribute to responsibly tackling the grand societal challenges of our times. I am happy and proud to be part of this.’’

- Johanna Höffken, teacher of the year 2020