Bert Vuylsteke

Bert Vuylsteke obtained his Master's degree in Industrial Design at the University of Ghent. During and alongside his studies, he engaged in many design challenges. In 2017, he was selected for an engineering internship at Huawei's global headquarters in Shenzhen, P.R. China. Bert also participated in the annual Samsung Innovation Challenge, in collaboration with MICT, where he became a finalist and presented his vision for a change in design strategy to improve Samsung's brand experience. For his Master's thesis, he explored the possibility of valorising fruit and vegetable waste streams into a more environmentally friendly product, which won the OVAM Eco-Design student prize in 2019. After graduating, Bert worked for a year as a product development engineer at an international cookware company, Allinox bvba, where he was responsible for their first patent-pending product-system design. In 2020, Bert began his PhD as part of a BOF-funded project, while also working as an assistant on projects and helping to teach courses in Industrial Design Engineering Technology at the Campus Kortrijk of Ghent University, design.nexus. His PhD research focuses on the opportunities that circular and bio-based materials bring to the design profession.