Edwin Dertien

Background

About Edwin Dertien

I'm a passionate maker - my favourite materials are robotics, music and theatre. Since 2006 my company 'Kunst- en Techniekwerk'(making art work) has been providing the technical backbone in art projects, ranging from robot-arms for sci-fi movies to autonomous GPS track drawing robots, moving sculptures, installations for festivals, art exhibitions and theatre, android robots and animatronics. Much of my current work is as 'RoboPuppeteer'- for which I started the 'Robot Theatre Lab' as a creative hub for connecting robotics and theatre. I graduated from the University of Twente in 2005 with an MSc in Mechatronics and obtained a PhD on the design of a pipe inspection robot in 2014. I have been working on many other projects involving (autonomous) robots, both from an engineering or artistic (or combined) interest. Research wise I worked in recent years on research projects WEAFING (smart textiles), ProsPeRo (care robotics), HELPER (care robotics), ROBOCONNECT (power grid connection) TISCALI (Sewer assessment). Currently I'm involved in the Dramaturgy for Devices project, and the Ability Technology Lab. Since 2008 I have been employed at the University of Twente as a researcher/teacher for the Creative Technology programme, developing and teaching courses in programming, physical computing, sensor technology, tinkering and explorative design. In the MSc track on Interaction Technology, I teach the courses 'Mastering Tinkering' and 'Social Robot Design' In 2013 I co-founded the ASSortiMENS foundation, running a FabLab tailored to people with autism, including a children's FabLab project (het kinderfablab). I'm also a certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator. From 2015 till 2022 with the Artist Residencies Enschede (ARE) I directed gallery/art space XPO. Besides technical work I play the piano and (double)bass. I have been playing the piano for (improv) theatre and have performed with groups such as D.I.T (Amsterdam) and L.T.S.(London). I have been a participant at MediaMatic's award-winning RFID hacker camps (2008,2009), a regular contributor to the GogBot festival and other tech-fests (Night of the Nerds, Eureka, Dutch Innovation Days), speaker at TEDx Amsterdam (2012), TEDx Zwolle (2013). Initiator and co-organizer of MakerFaire Twente (2013), participated in 2021 as one of the inventors in the Dutch TV-show 'We gaan het maken'(IDTV/BNN-VARA), and in three episodes of the program 'Anna's Brains',(WarnerBros/VPRO, 2021)