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Meet the people

Our team

A diverse group of researchers, designers, and innovators united by a passion for creating meaningful societal impact through design and technology.

Prof. Dr. Bas Baccarne

Lab Lead, Human-Centered Design
Human-Centered Design
Prof. Dr. Bas Baccarne is a socio-technologist who integrates social science, innovation management, and product design to develop inclusive technologies that empower users and address complex societal challenges through participatory methodologies.

Prof. Wouter Devriese

Visiting professor
Prototyping & Emerging technologies
Wouter Devriese combines his role as an R&D engineer at imec with his work as a guest professor, exploring the frontiers of emerging technologies through a creative, human-centered lens to translate innovations from the lab into meaningful real-world applications.
Dimitri Schuurman

Prof. Dr. Dimitri Schuurman

Visiting professor & Business Developer
Living Labs
Prof. Dr. Dimitri Schuurman is a leading expert in innovation management, specializing in Living Labs with a focus on bridging the gap between emerging technologies and societal needs through participatory methodologies.
Yannick Christiaens

Yannick Christiaens

Lab Magician
Advanced Engineering & Production
Yannick Christiaens specializes in computational design and digital fabrication, focusing on additive manufacturing and prototyping techniques to innovate product development processes and enhance design education.
Fran Burger

Dr. Fran Burger

Senior Researcher
E-inclusion & digital inequalities
Conversational Agents
Dr. Franziska Burger explores how conversational agents and AI-driven interfaces can promote well-being in the long term, focusing on designing systems that respond meaningfully to users’ emotional and cognitive states.
Tim Theys

Dr. Tim Theys

Senior researcher
UX Research & Design
Human-Computer Interaction
Tim Theys explores the user experience (UX) of emerging technologies, such as Solid-enabled personal data stores to empower users with true data ownership and data portability, reshaping online experiences.
Ben Robaeyst

Ben Robaeyst

Researcher
Futures
Impact & Living Labs
Ben Robaeyst explores how integrating Living Labs with futures methodologies can empower communities, align innovation with long-term transitions, and enable deliberate, sustainable transformation.

Soetkin Cornelis

Junior Researcher
Health Care Technologies
Living Labs
Soetkin’s research is situated at the intersection of Living Labs and healthcare innovation, examining how Living Lab methodologies can strengthen the implementation of emerging technologies in clinical and care settings.

Wanda Gaertner

Junior Researcher
Inclusive Design
Wanda’s research focuses on the inclusive design of emerging technologies, exploring collaborative and user-driven approaches that address structural inequalities and empower underrepresented groups to actively shape equitable technological futures.
Margot Verhelst

Margot Verhelst

Junior Researcher
E-inclusion & digital inequalities
Margot Verhelst researches how digital technologies can promote social inclusion and well-being by developing and assessing accessible, inclusive innovative products and services that empower diverse communities.
Dennis Osei Tutu

Dennis Osei Tutu

Junior Researcher
Maker
Virtual Reality
Dennis Osei Tutu investigates how virtual reality (VR) and haptic feedback can enhance the acquisition and assessment of 21st-century skills, focusing on creating immersive learning environments that bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application.

Eline Voskuilen

Junior Researcher
Engineering & Design
Textiles
Eline's researchs focuses on the thermophysiological comfort of military garment and how these parameters can be tested and evaluated when incorporating new innovations of multispectral technologies on a textile level.

Vittorio Amendolara

Junior Researcher
Human movement analysis
Vittorio’s research investigates the ergonomics of protective garments, leveraging human movement analysis to optimize the overall design and comfort, thus improving wearer performance without sacrificing safety.

Want to join our team?

We're always looking for talented researchers, designers, and students who share our passion for societal innovation.

Ready to shape the future with us?

Whether you're a researcher, industry partner, or student, there are many ways to collaborate with our team.
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Contact
Bibliotheek De Krook, Miriam Makebaplein 1, 9000 Gent
Bastiaan.Baccarne@UGent.be