About HSI

About HSI

Since 1998 TU/e offers the EngD User System Interaction (USI). Since then, there have been technological changes as well as changes in the group of companies that regularly provided relevant design projects. As a result, the number of trainees has decreased substantially. We have concluded that the current program needs a substantial revision to keep aligned with technological developments and to respond to changes in and the needs of industry. The new USI program we propose will focus on intelligent systems and will be called Designing Human-System Interaction (HSI). HSI builds on the old program USI and includes new elements concerning Artificial Intelligence and Business Model Innovation, next to (engineering) Systems Thinking.

Management

The program will be offered by the Department of Industrial Design. Dr. Jun Hu, who is currently the scientific director of the USI program, will also be the scientific director of HSI. The other people involved in the organization are:

  • Prof. dr. Regina Bernhaupt, deputy director of the program. She will join Jun Hu for discussions on the content and the management and will act on behalf of the scientific director when Jun Hu is not available.
  • The director (or the deputy director if necessary) participates in the Graduate School in the ODCO, the regular meeting of Directors and coordinators of all TU/e EngD programs.
  • The directors are members of the EngD board of examiners at the Graduate School.
  • The directors report to the faculty board at Industrial Design under the guidance of the Dean (prof. Lin-Lin Chen) and the Graduate program director (dr. Yuan Lu).
  • Secretarial support from Anne Jeuken.

Internal Advisory Board

The director will be assisted by an Internal Advisory Board, which will oversee the contents and coherence of the program, advise on strategies in relation to research and industry, acquisition of projects and financial support, and recruitment and selection of candidates. The Internal Advisory Board will meet at least twice per year. Members of the Board are lecturers involved in the program. The current members are:

  • Prof.dr. Panos Markopoulos, vice dean for research at TU/e’s Department of Industrial Design; expert in Human-computer interaction, especially in Design for Behavior Change.
  • Dr. Mathias Funk, Associate Professor, an expert in design with and for data and systems behavior.

External Advisory Board

In addition, we plan to install an External Advisory Board, composed of both internal and external partners. The main purpose of the Board is to remain aligned with developments in the industry and to allow the industry to bring forward ideas concerning the contents of the curriculum, relevant projects, etc.

In principle, the Board will meet once a year. The issues to be discussed are relevant developments in the field of AI Systems and user-system interaction that should be incorporated in the program.

Potential members of the Advisory Board are:

  • internal partners: representatives from Eindhoven Engine, EAISI (Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute), and the Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, specifically the HTI group (Human-Technology Interaction);
  • external partners: companies that support the program and are expected to have a regular demand for HSI trainees.

Eindhoven Engine

The program will be strongly supported by Eindhoven Engine to reach out to the core interests of the AI related industry and business innovations. Eindhoven Engine is the innovation accelerator of the Brainport Region. It provides expertise in Project Management, Business Model Innovation, Systems Thinking and Design Thinking through a course on Business models and innovation, and by providing coaching and guidance for industrial projects. Our connection to Eindhoven Engine will be helpful in project acquisition and will provide the context for training the trainees with real world challenges.