SJOERD BEEKS INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER
SJOERD BEEKS My name is Sjoerd Beeks and I graduated at Delft University of Technology with a master’s degree in Integrated Product Design. As an industrial designer I’m specialized in product design. I use my abilities to create smart solutions for problems and create innovative products with a big focus on the user. I think it is of great importance that my products look simple and understandable for the user while also creating a product with an attractive design.
CONTACT: sjoerdbeeks@gmail.com +31 6 22 62 02 38
HELICOPTER RHINOCEROS This project was part of an advanced course in learning to use a surface modeller for making 3d models. For this the program Rhinoceros was used. The main assignment was to model a product that has at least 1 moving part and could house an alien object taking into account that the model should be 3d-printed.
PROTOTYPE To make the model fit the boundaries of the printer and make the rotor rotate the model was assembled from 7 separate parts of which 1 houses a LED light for the helicopter’s front lights.
BLOKKAGE This was a project for the annual HEMA design challenge. The theme of this 24th edition was ``sports and games``. The product portfolio of the HEMA usually consists of relatively simple products and for this reason it was decided to take old nostalgic games and renew them. The product combines the old building blocks with a new game element. The lid of the package is the base for this game. The person is able to put the different block shapes in different angles in this base. The goal is to build together a tower of blocks in which balance is key. By throwing the dice you decide which block shape has to be put onto the block pile. If this pile falls over while doing this you lose the game.
COFFEE TO GO In the busy society of the near future, people will be more individualistic and in need for relaxation. Some will satisfy this need by taking some time off for themselves, while others look for social interaction. For this reason the goal was to create a product which helps people to experience relaxation (recharge) and sociability (Friendship). This project was conducted for the company Urban Arrow which specialize in making electric cargo bikes. By combining the strengths of Urban Arrow and a strong coffee brand Starbucks, a place is created where people can meet each other and relax with a nice cup of coffee.
The biggest strength of this coffee stand is the fact that it is mobile. This gives it the opportunity to be at different places. This is why the design is very limited in mass and volume and is able to expand when the coffee stand is in use.
ARSENIC FILTER Arsenic in drinking water is a serious problem; in 2007 more than 137 million people in over 70 countries were already affected by arsenic poisoning from drinking water. People drinking contaminated water do not see the immediate effects it has on their health, but continue drinking such water will lead to terrible diseases. The challenge was; “Creating a low-tech, easy to understand and simple to produce arsenic filter that is beneficial to the Bangladeshi households�
WORKING PRINCIPLE Part of the water stream from the water pump runs into the filter. At the top of the filter there is a water reservoir of 4 liters for the dirty water. This enables the system to keep filtering even if the user is not pumping water, as long as there is water stored in the top basin. The water runs through the filter material and will be stored in a reservoir for filtered water. Due to the principle that water levels, the clear water reservoir will be filled and the filter will always contain arsenic free water.
MOBILE POWER CORD Our society is getting more and more mobile. This mobility trend will result in a shift to where people are no longer limited to working inside their office, but work can be done from everywhere in the world. This development is called “Urban nomads”. This product that has been designed for Allocacoc is focusing on this new trend. It is meant as a power strip for the true urban nomad. It features a power socket on the one side, and a connection part on the other side. This connection side is where different modules can be attached. The modular system is one of the unique selling points of this product. It gives the user the possibility to choose which functionality is needed for a certain situation.
PROTOTYPE AND PACKAGING The company Allocacacoc is a relatively new brand with a very distinctive product/packaging design. The goal was to make this a so called “Allocacoc product” which fits their current product portfolio. For this reason there was also some special focus on the packaging for this product.
OFF-ROAD BYCYCLE SEAT This project was conducted for the company GMG which is specialized in developing bicycle seats for children. The assignment was to look for a new direction for their new product portfolio within the bicycle seat market. The designed product focusses on the off-road sport cyclists in which parents can make their child (9 months - 15kg) part of this activity, increasing the quality time with their child in a society in which parents had less and less time for their children. Parents today have less and less time for their children. Safety was one of the biggest issues while developing this product. For this reason was decided to locate the bicycle seat between the seat tube and the steering tube of the bike. In this way the parent can see their child during the bike sport activity and offer an extra protection for the child in case of a crash. This location on the bike means that the space available for the seat is limited which considerably limited the design freedom.
HOW TO USE THE PRODUCT
BIKE FOR LIFE This project was conducted as my graduation assignment and describes the redesign of the “Bike for Life”. It is one of the two “bicycle ambulances” designed to be a “stand alone” support vehicle to facilitate the Quick Response Team (QRT-team) and is an integral part of the safety management system of the St. Elisabeth Hospital in Tilburg. Medical Emergency Teams, like the QRT-team, should be seen as a complementary system to respond quickly when the patient cannot be helped by the usual medical care system during emergencies inside the hospital. Throughout the project there was a special focus on the implementation and work flow of the current “bicycle ambulance” and hospital personnel working with the bike. The design is greatly appreciated for its flexibility in the way equipment could be stored making it easy to adapt to future changes in the equipment. It also makes the design suitable for implementation in other hospitals where the Medical Emergency Teams (MET) might use different equipment pieces.
The current “bicycle ambulance” was developed in 2006 and throughout the years more and more equipment was added. This has resulted in a product that does not fit the workflow of the employees using the product. Equipment is stored in an inefficient way which sometimes result in actions by the hospital personnel which are ergonomically unpleasant. It has also resulted in a bike which is not designed for the amount of equipment it has to carry, resulting in problems regarding the handling of the bike.
CONCEPTS In the first concept the focus is on making the new “Bike for Life” suitable for transporting two people.
In the second concept there was a focus on making the new “Bike for Life” future proof by making it adjustable to the future demand for storage space.
PROTOTYPE The goal was to build a functional prototype which makes it possible to evaluate the design on stability, performance and maneuverability. This allowed the hospital personnel to test the new “Bike for Life” inside the hospital and evaluate how well it can maneuver inside the narrow corridors. The production of the prototype was funded by the St. Elisabeth Hospital. There was a limited budget available for the development / production of the new version of “Bike for Life” which made the search for the required components a difficult challenge. A lot of second hand components were used in order to reduce the building costs.
In the second concept there was a focus on making the new “Bike for Life” future proof by making it adjustable to the future demand for storage space.
TEKNO B.V. Since July 2015 I work as an engineer, and later senior engineer for a company called Tekno which is specialized in developing miniature trucks (Scale 1:50). The company was founded in 1928 and has a very rich history. Since 1974 the company is located in the Netherlands where it started to specialize in miniature trucks. In 2003, the company even opened its own museum showing thousands of old and new models.
As senior engineer I mainly function as project manager, being responsible for the final products. A lot of work has to be done by external parties, ranging from toolshops to 3D-cad modellers. Most of the time you have to produce client specific orders not bigger than 200 pieces, which forces you to find creative solutions to keep the costs low using all sorts of production processes like photo etch and 3d-printing.
For big developments, which will later be used for client specific orders, the biggest challenge is in keeping the number of parts low and try ing to avoid as much problems for production in China/Czech. Keeping the number of parts low, while still making it possible to cast the parts, is also accomplished by smart choices while making the toolplans. By adding turngates, making use of inserts and keeping additional slides to a minimal, scrap and unnessesary storage can be reduced keeping the costs low.
SCANIA NEXT GENERATION A unique opportunity presented itself in the early phase of my Tekno carreer which made me responsible for creating an entire new product line for the in 2016 released Scania next generation which will be a base for most of the models for the upcoming 10 years. These products had to be developed in close cooperation with Scania to deliver these models before the big release in august 2016.
Beside trucks the company also produces a wide range of matching trailers (Scale 1:50), even smaller trucks (1:87) and cheapers models for the sister company Lion Toys. Where most trucks mainly have their brand and type specific parts, trailers are ideal for trying to come up with interchangeable solutions. Having a good overview of all the developed parts and molds is crusial in making this possible.
Each model is also drawn in 2D for the work praperation department which will add the client specific colors, logos and prints. Using the correct color codes made it possible to communicate the required information to the factories.
The painting of the models will greatly determine the final look of each product. Besides spray paining the models, the printing is mainly done with tompon printing and laserprinting. Keeping these processes in mind will influence decisions early in the disign process. Knowing the limitations of your prodcution processes forces you to come up with creative alternatives and solutions.