Design Challenge
D-Challenge
The Design Challenge offers Master students a unique opportunity to demonstrate how innovative and creative they are.
Inspired by Stanford University’s ‘design school’ formula, student teams combine their entrepreneurial and design skills to develop practical solutions for the real world innovation problems of our corporate and governmental partners. This is your chance to solve challenging innovation problems in a multidisciplinary team of the most motivated and talented students from various faculties. You will receive on the job training from a senior coach, plus weekly feedback and support from our ‘client’ partners. The 'Design Challenge' runs twice a year: from September untill January and from February untill June.
VIEW NEW PROJECTS - APPLY NOW!
D-Challenge 2011 winner
Ocean Thermal Energy Ecopark for Curacao wins Design Challenge!
The Design Challenge is a master course provided by the Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship (DCE). On Thursday June 16th 2011, four Design Challenge teams presented their results to the participating companies, fellow students and a jury. This final event: ‘Your Success Starts Today‘, was organized together with the Sustainable Business Game, a master course also provided by the DCE.
This semester, 17 Master students of the Delft University of Technology competed in the Design Challenge. The students represented 5 different Master studies and worked in four multidisciplinary teams on different challenges, submitted by three companies: Bluerise BV, Ideal&Co/Cycling out of Poverty and the Science Centre Delft. These companies challenged the students to find a solution for their innovation problems.
Only one team could be the winner. The jury, consisting of Dap Hartmann (TU Delft) and entrepreneurs Fiebke op de Macks (MAXAM Medical) and Thijs van Oorschot (Nightbalance), decided that this was the Bluerise team that worked on the project ‘Ocean Thermal Energy Ecopark for Curacao’. The team, coached by Akos Wetters (linked to Delft Centre for Entrepreneurship, Delft University of Technology), designed an industrial/research park for Curacao for Bluerise BV and Curacao Airport Holdings. The Ecopark Curacao is an industrial park for high-tech production and research facilities with a sustainable character. It is also designed to create economic growth and provide education on what kind of opportunities renewable technologies have to offer. Bluerise BV
The jury was impressed by the total concept of the Ecopark Curacao. Cold water is pumped up from deep sea and subsequently applied in different stages during which the temperature rises slowly. After this the water is returned to the sea. What concerned the jury slightly is that plans are to use this project to turn the airport of Curacao into a hub. This means more flight movements which conflicts with the sustainable character of the Ecopark project.
The team that worked for Ideal&Co/Cycling out of Poverty on an innovative bicycle design for Africa, may not have won the Design Challenge, however, this team, coached by Patrick van der Duin (Delft University of Technology, faculty of TPM) also participated in the African Bicycle Design contest in Nijmegen on June 10th as a TU Delft representative and won this contest with their multi-purpose bicycle trailer! For more information, visit www.wiki-bike.com.
