Drivers of Change this year in Strijp-S

Drivers of Change is the annual exhibition in which TU/e showcases to visitors to Dutch Design Week (DDW) its latest innovations on the cutting edge of science, technology and design. This year Drivers of Change is being staged at the heart of DDW: in repurposed shipping containers on Ketelhuisplein, the vibrant square in the Strijp-S neighborhood. Here, from October 22 through 30, the inventions, particularly those in the fields of health and sustainability, will be on display to the public.

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illustration Volle Kracht

It won't be long before, once again, all eyes in the design world turn to Eindhoven: Dutch Design Week 2022 is taking place from October 22 through 30. Drivers of Change, TU/e's regular expo contribution, will this year be on Ketelhuisplein, organizer and head of Studium Generale Lucas Asselbergs tells us.

“It will be a dramatic assortment of glass boxes: long, tall, wide, small and stacked.” And yes, they are windproof, Asselbergs hastens to confirm, last year's DDW a painful memory. Twelve months ago a storm caused considerable damage to the glasshouses on the TU/e campus housing Drivers of Change.

Lightyear

The expo showcases projects in five fields: better health, building the future, design thinking, sensing the invisible, and sustainable world. “We're putting the emphasis on the first and last: health and sustainability,” says Asselbergs.

In the area of health, visitors will learn about such things as the role AI can play in the treatment of breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. They'll also encounter an artificial womb, a plastic blood vessel and a chip that helps blind people to see.

Among the exhibits chosen to represent the theme of sustainability are the Antarctica explorer Polar and the solar vehicles Stella Vita and Lightyear 0. Unfortunately, the ‘CO2-eating’ car ZEM will not be on display. Having completed a successful tour of the US, it won't be back in the Netherlands in time.

As well as seeing the innovations themselves, visitors will get to know the people behind the inventions and find out what motivates them, Asselbergs tells us. “The researchers will often be on hand during the expo, and we've also prerecorded some twenty mini-interviews that we'll be playing.”

Klok building

TU/e's contribution to DDW is not limited to Drivers of Change. Asselbergs: “The Klok building – also on Strijp-S –will be hosting the Transitions exhibition by 4TU Design United, for example, and on the campus, in Vertigo, there'll be a display of submissions for the Archiprix.”

In cooperation with Pakhuis De Zwijger, Studium Generale will be presenting a debate program on the topic of inclusive design.

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