From designer to filmmaker and back

Next to studying Industrial Design, I co-founded a video production and marketing company called Focality Media in 2019. Given our great success, I was confident that I would continue with the business after my graduation for a long time, but quite recently, there has been a change of plans.

Since I started working on my M2.1 project BrainFax, a new level of passion for design was sparked within me. Especially when we published a paper about BrainFax at CHI2023, I experienced how my work could have a real-world impact and inspire others. My work at Focality no longer offered that same spark. My intrinsic motivation and passion for filmmaking have faded over the years.

Although I really enjoyed working on the paper and publishing at CHI, the conference also taught me why academia is perhaps not the best direction for the near future. Because of my experiences at the department and the conference, pursuing an academic career feels too much like working on solutions for five years from now. However, I like to work with people and feel the impact of my work. In other words, focus on today's problems to create solutions for tomorrow. Therefore, a career in industry is where I would like to go.

I am happy to announce that this September (2023), I will therefore start as product owner at CTOUCH Europe.