W.F. van der Vegte

Wilfred van der Vegte is assistant professor of Internet of Things at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. His research revolves around usage analytics: trying to capture knowledge of how people use products and services – for instance from data generated by connected appliances that is used as input for machine learning or simulations – and finding ways to benefit from that knowledge by informing designers or making products smarter.

Academic Background

Usage analytics can apply both to prototypes and to fielded products/services. In prototyping, the findings of usage analytics can help realising a better next iteration of a prototype. The findings from usage analytics applied to fielded products can be used as input for successor products, but also for updates to services or firmware. There are also products that perform analytics by themselves, as part of their functionality: think of sensor-equipped products that can detect health-related conditions in users. Usage analytics involves technologies such as machine learning/AI and simulation, but an important part is also data preprocessing or data wrangling, i.e., filtering, cleansing and reordering of data.

After graduating in Mechanical Engineering and in Design of Consumer Durables (MSc-level degrees from University of Twente and TU Delft, respectively), I worked for 7 years as a product designer and project manager at the TNO Institute of Industrial Technology. In 1998 I returned to TU Delft where I completed PhD research on integrating user actions and user behaviour into engineering simulations. In my further research as well as in teaching at the Faculty, I have involved myself in several related areas, such as computer-supported knowledge management in design, use-process modelling, ubiquitous computing and cyber-physical systems.