"Lets think big
and start small!"
About me
I am Eva Dijkema, 29 years of age and I graduated in 2017 from the faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University of Technology.
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During my masters I decided to focus on the strategic & business context of product and service design. Therefore I followed the master "Strategic Product Design" *
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This master focuses on the specific stages in the design process where strategy is very important. I learned to design from the company’s point of view and how to advise companies in their innovation processes. In the master an interesting combination of product design thinking and business thinking is applied. The master’s taught me how I could benefit from and use my designer skills in a business environment. The courses in this master program are aimed at learning how to creatively solve strategic challenges. Market needs, consumer research, competitors, branding, market introduction, product economics, leading innovation and corporate strategy are examples of topics that are addressed during this master’s. This master showed me the possibilities of design as a trategic tool and taught me how to successfully combine design and business aspects.
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Because I stayed interested in the product design process itself as well, I decided to also follow the Integrated Product Design master *. This master program focuses on how to design user-centered innovative products and product service combinations, based on a balance between the interests of users, business and societal challenges.
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The insights I gained during both masters came together in my graduation project which I conducted for ASICS*. I found it extremely interesting to be part of such a large organisation and to have the ability to dive into their innovation process. During the project I was able to visit the ASICS headquarters in Japan and host a creative innovation roadmapping session which led to new visions and ideas about the future for ASICS. More information about this project can be found on this website under: "Projects- Innovation at ASICS".
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The past two years I worked at the Dutch rail-infrastructuremanager ProRail. Within ProRail I have been responsible for setting up and managing several innovation projects like the development of a mobile warning for approaching levelcrossings together with the informationservice Flitsmeister*. Mainly I focused on innovations related to sustainability and circular economy, like researching the opportunities to apply new materials in the track. What I learned during my time at ProRail is to bring an idea all the way to implementation and the challenges and consequences that might bring. I also participated in an intensive self-development program with training on subjects like softskills, conflict management, leadership, influencing and self reflection.
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Besides this, together with two colleagues I founded the NoSUP* intiative. NoSUP is an initiative to reduce the amount of waste at stations. A lot of single use plastic is used at the to-go shops at the Dutch railway stations every day which I think is a shame for such a “green” way of transportation. I think starting with abandoning single use coffee cups would be a really good start and hopefully creates a movement in the world of to-go packaging. With NoSUP we try to get this movement going.
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* http://www.tudelft.nl/en/study/master-of-science/master programmes/strategic-product-design/
* http://www.tudelft.nl/en/study/master-of-science/master-programmes/integrated-product-design/
What I love
I love let myself be amazed by nature. I very much like to spend time outdoors, skiing, hiking, camping and sailing. During the past years I developed a big interest in sustainability, circularity climate change. I have a "can do"mentality and I enjoy brainstorming and thinking about strategic or design related challenges. In these cases I like to work in groups and I enjoy learning from others perspectives.
