Projects

At Weheat I was hired as a system architect to design future heatpump models, but I also spent significant time putting in place the required tools, processes and team structure in order to allow the products to be properly tested against requirements, as heat pump reliability was a key focus point for the company at the time. Using very simple process and tools, I was able to strike the right balance for this young and small company so that the processes did not lead to unnecessary overhead but did achieve the desired quality.

For Holland PTC and TUDelft I designed and built a demonstrator for a new type of patient positioning and fixation system to be used in proton radio therapy. Current methods of fixation are incredibly claustrophobic making the cancer treatment more scary than it already is, but also is reasonably labor intensive as it required making a custom thermoformed mask. The goal was to demonstrate that the concept could work whilst maintaining transparent to the radiation and with an even attentuation. The demonstrator was delivered in 3 months from first concept sketch to a demonstration model. Unfortunately I can not yet show any pictures of the demonstrator itself.

At Lightyear I was system architect for various systems  at different phases of development.

For the infotainment system I lead the concept phase where we developed the requirements and concepts for each of the modules, and worked with various suppliers to check the feasibility, cost and availability.

Later on when infotainment was put on pause due to a refocus on core technologies, I lead the development of the high level vehicle controller which had to go from concept to first integration test in just 5 months time.

At a later time I also filled in as macro architect a.i. for the interior, exterior and solar panels of the vehicle for 4 weeks during the parental leave of my colleague. During this period dozens of engineers were working on the detailed design under tight deadlines.

Next to my roles of system architect I became increasingly involved with setting up systems engineering and product development processes. As the team grew from 100 to 600 there was an enormous need for structure and process to ensure everyone was provided by the right information and worked together effectively. In the end I was responsible for the system engineering processes in the company and was spearheading the development of the overall product creation process.

What was supposed to be a 3-month part time thing next to finishing my graduation project became 12 incredible months working with the Delft Hyperloop student team. I was involved with the propulsion concepts and later on with the suspension design. Despite major setbacks during qualification and a component failure during the race our team became 2nd in the competition at SpaceX in Los Angeles.

During my master's thesis I developed novel type of exoskelleton for laparscopic surgeons, the first exoskelleton designed to be worn underneath the surgical gown and therefore omitting the need for costly sterilization. The required low profile required the development of a new type of arm support mechanisms, which did not employ a classical bulky spring and joint design, but instead used a computationally optimized nonlinear leafspring that supported the arms when they were extended, but did not bother them otherwise, all whilst maintaining full freedom of movement.

The project was completed 50/50 at MIT and TU Delft and awarded a 9/10 'cum laude'.

At Thales I contributed to the redesign of a waveguide rotary joint, a component which guides radarwaves from a rotating antenna to a stationary receiver/sender. Trough this redesign we achieved a 75% cost reduction giving up only a bit of performance, which was possible in the intended new application.

At Minivalve I designed and built a workstation which allows and operator to mix small batches of liquid silicon rubber with a customer specific pigment. This allowed the company to do small sample runs with the customer's intended color, without having to disturb normal production mixers. Unfortunately I am not allowed to show pictures of the machine.

Developed a beta prototype of a medical laser pen, with focus on ergonomics and aesthetic design. Also assisted in the verification of a new machine in an unrelated project. Unfortunately, as the project was for a Demcon customer which requested full confidentiality, I can not post pictures of the design.

At Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation in Boston, USA, I developed an endoscopic irrigation and suction add-on accessory which helps surgeons perform endoscopic surgeries using a rigid endoscope faster and safer, by allowing the surgeon to always clean the surgical area without having to switch tools. The invention is patented under US11337586B2. I was the first undergraduate student in the CMI intern program whose work led to a patent.

For my studio appartment with high ceilings I designed and built a 7x4x3,5m large piece of furniture that integrates a mezzanine bed, wardrobe, stairs, and media console. Although it was a lot of work, it has significantly increased the usable surface area in the apartment and is a nice focal piece in the room. Some fun integrations are the inclusion of an LP record shelf, integrated spotlights in the platform, a robot vacuum hiding spot, and a niche for displaying personal belongings.

During my time at MIT, instead of buying a bicycle, I built my own electric skateboard at the MIT hobbyshop. It has 4.4kW of power and is geared to a max speed of 48km/h, which is admittedly very scary and unnecessary. It did however climb even the steepest hill in the city, up and down, without issues. And yes, unlike in the Netherlands, this thing was fully street legal in Boston. I met a group of electric skateboarders that would meet up every other Wednesday night, I think I have seen almost every inch of Boston using this board, and it still works to this day.

The coolest parts are probably the motor mounts which I custom designed and CNC+conventional milled.