ISP: innovation through art & design

Students from all study programs are welcome, even if you think you don’t have any creative or artistic skills!
In this Challenge-Based Learning course you work in interdisciplinary teams, set yout own learning goals, and receive coaching from professionals -artist, designers & scientists.There is budget for guest lecturers, workshops and visits, and there is budget for materials, prototyping & installations.
You learn abstract, conceptual & speculative thinking to prepare for future challenges as an engineer.

Play video

About the course

Studio-style group work

At the start of the course, you choose a project you want to work on, see the challenges for the coming semester below. Design/engineer/code/build, whatever you are good at, or want to become good at. Within your team you can make use of all the different competencies, and everyone can set their own learning goals. Maybe there are things you always wanted to learn, but never had the chance to, like soldering, (aluminum)welding, or trying out digital tools like Rhino 8 or KeyShot. You can use all available workshops, tools, and workspaces at TU/e innovation Space, and you will have easy acces to the TU/e Living Labs.

Schedule & registration

Course 1ZM250 is a semester course in timeslot C (Tue 09:00-12:30 & Fri 13:30-17:00) and starts in Q1 and Q3. The subscription deadlines are similar to the ones of other courses. Registration for this course is possible via Osiris 1ZM250.

Read these testimonials

Challenges 2024-2025 Semester 1

You can choose which challenge you want to work on during the course.
At the start of the course the challenges will be pitched, with speed dates and drinks afterwards. This semester you can choose between five different challenges:

AI Booth for AFAS Live
Concert venue AFAS Live in Amsterdam wants to offer their visitors an experience with music. During the course you can explore all kinds of fun interactions that an audience can do in a booth.

This is (not) a clock
The Hidden House of Madame de Berry is a little rabbit hole in Delft, where you can sleepwalk through space and time. They challenge you to design/engineer/prototype a clock that indicates everything but… time. Move beyond atomic time and explore what a clock from a different time universe might look like.

I Am a Sad Robot
This project by writer & philosopher Aaron Schuster explores a unique and philosophical question about the role and psychological state of AI in society. It links popular culture to theoretical approaches to artificial intelligence and psychopathology. This project provides a challenging research environment for students to work on the concepts of AI and psychology. 

The Post-Robin Hood Machine
This project by artist Yip Stals reinterprets the classic folklore of Robin Hood through a contemporary technological lens. The installation, a machine that continuously splits an arrow with another arrow, symbolises society's need for high-performance and ultimate precision machines. This artwork reflects on our growing dependence on technology and how it transforms our interaction with the world and each other. The project offers both technical and practical challenges (such as the 'archer's paradox') and artistic opportunities. 

Envision, Encounter, Embody Inner Aliens
This project by designer/artist Hung Lu Chan explores the human imagination and perception of the unknown (such as aliens), with a specific focus on artificial superintelligence (ASI). It combines art, meditation and technology, introducing new perspectives on AI by using non-anthropomorphic metaphors and focusing on the inner imagination of AI.

Cursor article

Cursor wrote an article about this new course, please check it out here! 

More information

Want to know more? Contact Isolde via the contact form below.