The Executive Board of the University of Twente has appointed Sabine Wildevuur to the post of DesignLab Director. The appointment takes effect on 1 July 2019.
As DesignLab Director, Wildevuur will be responsible for commercial and content-related aspects. This will include developing DesignLab's concept and strategy, forging strategic internal and external relationships and expanding DesignLab's project portfolio. She will also set to work forming new consortia with partners in civil society, science and business. “According to the job description and profile, this is a multifaceted role,” explains Wildevuur. “In view of my experience and knowledge, I’m particularly interested in developing meaningful, creative solutions for social challenges.” As DesignLab Director, Wildevuur succeeds Frank Kresin, who left earlier this year to take on the role of Dean of the Faculty of Digital Media & Creative Industry at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Miriam Iliohan – who has served as Interim Director since Kresin’s departure in January – will remain at DesignLab as Operations and Innovation Manager. “This marks a new step for our team, reflecting the growth of DesignLab,” says Iliohan.
About Sabine Wildevuur
Sabine Wildevuur currently heads up Waag's Creative Care Lab, which she founded in 2007. In that capacity, she collaborates intensively with private and public parties from the Netherlands and abroad. Through partnerships that transcend disciplines, Wildevuur works on the use of technology in tackling social challenges in healthcare, together with future users.
Wildevuur’s previous positions included working with the United Nations Environment Programme in Kenya, the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG), the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), online platform Medicinfo (VGZ/CZ) and the pan-European online healthcare group Planet Medica. Wildevuur has two Master's degrees from the University of Amsterdam: Medicine and Communication Sciences. She is conducting research at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam on ‘Information and communication technology to support the chronic disease management: a person-centred approach to healthcare’.
DesignLab
Since 2014, DesignLab has offered scientists, students, entrepreneurs, policy experts, designers and artists a creative platform for collaboration on the UT campus. This bustling laboratory brings together knowledge and expertise from a wide range of different disciplines. It applies its own method – Science2Design4Society, based on design-thinking principles – to connect education and research to social issues. On a daily basis, DesignLab facilitates and develops education, research, consortia, projects and events. It celebrates its fifth anniversary in September 2019.