Industrial Design Portfolio by andres.tokashiki

ANDRES TOKASHIKI

Industrial Design Portfolio

About me

My name is Andres Tokashiki

I’m an Industrial Designer from Lima, Peru currently studying in Delft, Netherlands

EDUCATION

Delft University of Technology (2024-2026)

MSc Integrated Product Design

Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (2013-2018)

Bachellor of Arts with major in Industrial Design

WORK EXPERIENCE

Metax (2020-2023)

Head of Product Design and Development

Industrial Design Analyst (2020-2022)

Hospital furniture and equipment design

Santiago de Surco Municipality (2020)

Freelance Designer

History museum experience design

As a designer, I try to embrace design not only as a powerful, user-centered, problem solving discipline, but also as a vessel for social connection and technological innovation.

I’m always curious for experimentation with new technologies, materials and production methods.

MITAMITA (2018 -2020)

Co-founder / Product designer Ceramics studio

Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (2018)

Part-time Instructor / Teaching Assistant

Product Design / Packaging Design

EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS

Critics’ Prize - Industrial Design (2017)

Art and Design Faculty - PUCP

Exhibitor - Global Grad Show (2019)

Dubai Design Week - Dubai, UAE

A portable tool for small scale farming in the Peruvian Andes

A wearable posture tracker for children

Hospital furniture and equipment design for state institutions

VOLTA

A portable tool for small scale farming in the Peruvian Andes

Academic project | 2017

Client: Fundación Integración Comunitaria (FIC), Trafigura Foundation

Team:

Valeria Pedraza, Camila Rodríguez

David Landeo, Renzo Mayo, Isaac Ramos

How can interdisciplinary, user-centered design help improve the quality of life for small-scale farmers in the Peruvian Andes?

A team of designers and engineers visited a small farming community in the mountains of Ayacucho, Peru. Our goal was to find a way to increase the farmers’ productivity and income, while trying to reduce their physical effort and pain.

Background

Location:

Canaria district, Ayacucho

Peruvian highlands

In this remote, mountainous area, peruvian farmers work small sections of land, scattered throughout different altitude levels.

Due to the steep terrain and the lack of roads spread across the land, transportation is a daily challenge for the farmers, who have to walk long distances very early in the morning.

The poor transport infrastructure and low income limit the development or implementation of new technologies.

Small-scale agriculture in this area has remained the same for centuries.

What did we discover about the farmers’ day-to-day routine?

User research

The workforce is comprised mostly of elderly men and women, as younger people search for more profitable activities, like mining.

Farmers are unable to use machinery or automation due to the steep terrain, the lack of transport infrastructure and limited access to fuel.

What did we discover about the farmers’ day-to-day routine?

Plowing, sowing and harvesting are carried out manually using traditional tools, which require a lot of physical effort.

They usually have to hire external workers or rent animals to increase productivity, even if it reduces profit.

How can we design a tool that increases productivity, reduces physical effort and responds to context-specific needs?

Ideation

An iterative journey seeking both functionality and ease-of-use

Product features

Crafting a solution based on the user’s identified needs

Volta is a lightweight and portable tool for small scale farming in the Peruvian Andes. It allows farmers to cultivate their land with less time and effort, while being able to turn itself into a backpack for easy transport.

Efficient plowing

The lever mechanism helps breaking the compacted soil with less physical effort.

Easy to disassemble

The product can be easily assembled and disassembled through integrated clamps.

Transportation

All the components can be fixed into a backpack-like structure, making it easy to carry around.

Solar-powered accesory

Solar energy is stored during the work day. This energy can be used to power a LED flashlight or as a power bank for a mobile phone during long commutes.

Product features

How does it work?

Volta has a scissor-like mechanism that breaks through compacted soil

1. The user raises the tool from the ground

2. The tool is pushed downwards through the soil using the user’s own weight.

3. The user pulls the handle back while stepping on the tool, breaking compacted soil into smaller pieces.

Product features

Portability

Volta can be easily disassembled without any tools, by using integrated clamps and threaded joints.

The different components can be assembled onto a backpack-like holder, making it easier to carry while commuting.

Process overview

Field research:

Huarochiri province

First-hand experimentation with tools and techniques just outside the city of Lima

Early immersion

General research on agricultural tools and processes in Peru

Interaction with real users was a major turning point in the design process, which is hardly ever linear

Opportunities

Plowing and soil preparation were identified as critical steps in the process.

Early concept development

Simple automation and cooperation were proposed as possible solutions.

Field research:

Ayacucho region

We got to meet real end-users and experience their daily routines. Initial concepts required major changes.

Insights

The steep terrain and long commutes were defined as important context-specific issues for the end-user. Portability is a must.

Ideation

Brainstorming and quick sketches

Rough prototypes

Used to test specific functions or capabilities

Testing

The prototype was tested by the farmers in Ayacucho

Sketching and 3D modeling

Form and function were refined.

DISCOVER DEFINE DEVELOP DELIVER

Prototype

A physical, full scale model was made

Results

The prototype was tested by local farmers in Ayacucho

Volta was presented at the Global Grad Show (now Propotypes For Humanity) in 2019, an international graduate exhibition that gathered 150 projects from design schools around the world, focusing on social change and sustainability. It was held in Dubai, UAE, during Dubai Design Week.

External links

Volta – Andean Agricultural Tool - Prototypes For Humanity https://www.prototypesforhumanity.com/project/volta-andean-agricultural-tool/

Proyecto VOLTA - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú - Vimeo https://vimeo.com/352365983

WIPPO

A wearable posture tracker for children

Academic project | 2017

Client: PUCP Academic Vice-rector (Funding)

Team:

Elizabeth Albarracín, Camila Rodríguez, Alejandro Castro, Andrés Leiva, Gabriel Matos, Víctor Pinillos, Héctor Ticona, Richard Vicente

Designers and engineers working collaboratively to create a functional and user-friendly wearable posture tracker

Given the task of developing health-related wearable products, a team of designers and electronic engineers worked together throughout the whole process, from early user-centered research to the development of functional prototypes.

Research

What should be the role of wearable technology applied to posture and back health?

Bad posture and slouching can be dangerous for our back health. Not only do they cause back pain or stiffness, but can also have long-term consequences, like a bent or twisted spine. This is acommon concern with children, as their bodies are constantly growing and developing. In this project, we explored how a wearable electronic device could help prevent bad posture and future back pathologies in children.

While interviewing parents and specialists (traumatology, chiropractic) about posture issues in children, most agreed in the following findings:

Sedentary lifestyle

Due to an increasing use of screens and mobile devices, children spend more time sitting down. This reduces the development of muscles, which are key to maintaining a good posture.

Lack

of attention = Lack of correction

As parents spend more time at work, they usually are not around to check on the child’s posture and give any kind of real-time feedback.

Benchmarking

Most posture trackers work by sending alerts or vibrations when the user slouches. However, in order to actually correct one’s posture, it requires a conscious, sustained effort to stop slouching, which would be hard to find in kids, who are not fully aware of the long-term consequences of bad posture.

The wearable device cannot be a replacement of a parent or specialist, but a tool to assist them in the detection of harmful habits, in order to make corrections or treatment more specific and effective.

Ideation

The goal was to visually convey futurism, technology and simplicity at the same time

Product features

Wippo is a posture monitoring system, designed to help parents and specialists keep track of the child’s habits and prevent future pathologies.

Smartphone app

Compatible undershirt

The system integrates different components and actors for an effective tracking

Main components (Posture sensor)

sensor

Processing unit and Bluetooth module

2 Motion sensors: (accelerometer + gyroscope)

Battery

Product features

While the wearable device uses a pair of motion sensors to track the different positions of the body, the smartphone app processes that data to generate a daily report. This information can be used by parents or specialists as a tool to discover habits and find the most efficient ways for posture correction.

The dedicated application is installed in the user’s smartphone. The devices are paired through Bluetooth connection.

It is not meant to be used as a replacement of parental guidance or medical treatment, but as an instrument to shed some light on previously vague or subjective information.

The device is charged through a dedicated wireless charger.

A daily report is generated, showing a percentual estimate of how much time the child spent on each posture.

How does the user interact with the product through the day?

Parents help position the wearable device on the adhesive section of the clothing.

The device identifies the child’s posture and records data during the day.

At the end of the day, the app receives the collected data.

Wippo was presented along other interdisciplinary research projects to the PUCP Academic Vice-rector and his team, showing a functional prototype and mobile application.

METAX

Hospital furniture and equipment design for state institutions

In-house design team | 2020-2023

Clients:

Peruvian Ministry of Health (MINSA)

ESSALUD - Peruvian Social Health Insurance

ARCC - Autoridad para la Reconstrucción con Cambios

NUVALAB Laboratories, Maison de Santé Clinic

Overcoming an unprecedented health crisis through locally manufactured, high quality medical products

METAX is a hospital furniture and equipment manufacturer, based in Lima, Peru. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company produced more than a thousand ICU beds, along with hospital beds, emergency stretchers and many other kinds of hospital furniture.

Background

When the COVID-19 pandemic spread around the world, healthcare systems faced major challenges to fight back. Peru was one of the most affected countries, reaching the world’s highest death rate per capita.

This unprecedented crisis revealed a severe lack of infrastructure and medical equipment, with hundreds of people lying on hospital floors waiting for medical attention.

METAX is a local Peruvian company with more than 20 years of experience in hospital furniture and equipment manufacturing. Amidst the healthcare crisis, the company not only produced large quantities of ICU beds, hospital beds, emergency stretchers to meet the high demand of Peruvian healthcare institutions, but also provided complete furnishing solutions for new hospitals being built.

Product lines

The most common product lines for hospital furnishing

The company has developed a wide variety of products, in search of being a one stop shop for whole hospital furnishing projects. This includes hospital beds, treatment chairs, trolleys, cabinets, seating and shelving solutions.

Product development workflow

Reception and review of technical specifications

Quick sketches and annotations to convey ideas

Ideas are translated into 3D geometry and 2D drawings

The typical steps in new product development or refinement

Prototypes are built and tested to ensure functionality

Products are assembled and tested for quality control

New product development

Model:

VITA PESO IC10

ICU bed with integrated scale

The company’s latest and most comprehensive ICU bed model. Its integrated scale can accurately tell the patient’s weight without leaving the bed, useful for drug administration.

New product series launched between 2021 and 2023

Model: ATMO

Stainless steel cradle with plastic cot

A new, redesigned cradle model, result of field research and co-designing with nurses at a maternity hospital, improving accesibility and removing any unnecessary features.

Model:

FOCUS 6 & FOCUS 7

Mid-range electrical bed

Bridging the gap between simple mechanical beds and electric ICU beds, the FOCUS series offers electric movements in a strippeddown structure, optimal for hospitalization needs.

Model: E710

Pneumatic chemotherapy chair

Designed on-demand, following specific recommendations from hospital staff, this chair supports chemotherapy patients with pneumatic movements and customizable accessories, including a foldaway eating table.