Jonathan Engels // Industrial design portfolio by Jonathan Engels

2024

Jonathan Engels PORTFOLIO

Hello!

My name is Jonathan Engels. I graduated as an industrial engineer designer at the University of Ghent and as a furniture designer at Thomas More Mechelen. I love the challenge to find creative solutions for different kinds of problems.

Further more, you can describe me as an enthousiastic person with a big passion for making things with my own hands. I’ m sometimes a dreamer and that’ s why I think everything is possible when you believe in it! The sky is not the limit.

In this portfolio I would like to guide you in a structured way through some of my projects to show my capabilities as an engineer/designer/craftsman.

Jonathan Engels

Creative Structured Handy

Profile & Skills

Profile

• Enthusiastic, motivated, structured

• Adventurous

• Practical, creative approach

• Good at mechanical, technical design

• Teamplayer Education

2015-2016

Banama Furniture design - Thomas More - Campus Mechelen

Thesis: “SPAN” - A fixation system for furniture based on the ‘tensegrity’ principle

2011-2015

Master Industrial Engineer Design - University of Ghent - Campus Kortrijk

Master thesis: “A back awning for the Fiat Ducato” - THULE SWEDEN

2007-2011

Industrial Sciences - TSO - Don Bosco Haacht

Final project: “The solar car - Umicar Inspire”

Hobbies

• Scouting - (12 years as a member, 5 years as a chief)

• Youth animator (‘Animator in het jeugdwerk’)

• Circus // Stilt shows for Gusta streettheatre

• Handcrafting projects - JE Creative

• Trailrunning, cycling, diving (PADI)

Skills

Design

Idea generation

Prototyping

Visualisation

Product development

Practical

Wood working

Welding (MIG/MAG)

Lasercutting (wood)

CNC- milling (3axis - wood)

Software

Adobe illustrator

Adobe photoshop

Adobe Indesign

Autocad

Siemens NX

Solid edge

Solid Works

Languages

Dutch (Native)

English

French

Spanish

Work Experience

• BuzziSpace - Engineer Product Developer (Kontich) // November 2017 - April 2023

• NNOF - Furniture Designer (Vilvoorde) // July 2016 - November 2017

• Internship THULE (Menen) // September 2014

Awards

• Buildings - Product innovation awards - BuzziBracks & BuzziDish (1st & 2nd place)

• Architizer A+ Awards - BuzziChip & BuzziRing

• LIT Lighting Design Awards - BuzziChip

• 2nd price OVAM Ecodesign award 2016 - SPAN

• Top 10 in gardening contest - Instructables - Project: Potato Tower

Content

01

D4E1 ‘A lightswitch for assistant dogs’

“Could it be possible to create something that allows my service dog, Gyproc, to operate the floor button of my Ikea lamp?” sounded the question of Heleen. After 28 prototypes we managed to find a simple but effective solution for Gyproc.

02 Profit Jump

‘An interactive installation to stimulate movement in the city’

“Bring movement to the city!”, that’ s what the organisation Profit is aiming for. The Profit Jump brings these movement based games to the public spaces and therefore makes them available for everybody. The installation encourages people of all ages in a fun way to move more.

03

Thule Omnistor 2200 ‘A solution to cover the back of the Fiat Ducato’

“Design a cover for the back of the Fiat Ducato which is ergonomic and easy to set up at any moment.” For my master’ s thesis, together with the company Thule, I developed a new awning system to solve this question.

05 SPAN ‘A tensegrity based furniture set’

SPAN arose from the principle of ‘tensegrity’: creating a static structure by searching a balance between tensile and compressive forces. The result is a durable bench and table that can be assembled without glue or any screws. Even tools aren’ t required to assemble and disassemble the bench.

Mr. Box ‘Small meeting rooms for open office spaces’

The Mr. Box is a product developed for the upcomming trend in open office spaces where small and acoustic rooms are needed for private meetings, concentration space, etc,... The outcome is a modular structure made out of reused and mostly ecological materials.

BuzziDish ‘Silent signals’

Playful exterior, complex interior. This high-performance acoustic wall and ceiling treatment marries design and function with the recognizable shape, reminiscent of a satellite dish.

D4E1

A lightswitch for assistant dogs

“Could it be possible to create something that allows my service dog, Gyproc, to operate the floor button of my Ikea lamp?” sounded the question of Heleen. For both her and her dog Gyproc it was initially impossible to operate this switch. Heleen always moves in a wheelchair and, hand movements that require a certain accuracy or power are difficult for her.

Gyproc is a very smart, studious white shepherd . She quickly picks up new commands . One of her characteristics is that she is very careful. For her it was not possible to press the floor switch because it was too hard to push.

Our task was therefore to make this button pushable for the dog .

Teamwork // 4p3 months project

A lightswitch for assistant dogs

We started with several ideas and tested this with the dog. When we selected the most promising idea we started to improve it until we found the best solution for gyproc. In this project co- designing was an important aspect. In total we made 28 prototypes to achieve the best possible solution.

D4E1

Development

A lightswitch for assistant dogs

We achieved our goal by placing a long lever over the button. This lever must not sway to the wrong side so Gyproc always gets the proper feedback . This feedback is very important for the learning process of a dog . Due to the high lever it was not only possible for Gyproc to press the button, but also for Heleen, which gives the product an added value. When Gyproc hears the command ‘Veritas’, she pushes the lever eagerly.

Another advantage of this lever is the usability for a wider range of people, like Heleen herself, elderly and so on.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlwszeXqsX0

Instructable - http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-lampswitch-for-dogs/

D4E1

Final product

Profit Jump

An interactive installation to stimulate movement in the city Movement-based games are becoming increasingly popular, digital games in which grossmotor bodily input influences the game’s outcome. The Microsoft Kinect, Nintendo Wii and Sony Playstation are all popular game console systems which people can play games on. The Profit Jump brings these movement based games to the public spaces and therefore available for everybody. It’s an installation that encourages people of all ages in a fun way to move more. It’s a versatile installation that is open for new games and this way ensures a lasting popularity. Furthermore nearly everyone can play these games because of the low entry level.

Teamwork // 3p3 months project

Profit Jump

An interactive installation to stimulate movement in the city

The initial question was to create a public installation to stimulate movement at the city of Kortrijk. We invented a simple competitive installation where different games with light and sound could be played on just by pushing a tile.

The final prototype is a mobile installation which is completely foldable for easier transport. The goal is to eventually make a concealed installation.

Development

Profit Jump

An interactive installation to stimulate movement in the city

As shown on the image, two players face each other while standing on a pressure-sensitive tile. These tiles are connected with a Led strip that displays the game. By jumping on the tiles the two players can play various games and it is even possible to add more games. Speakers are built into the tiles which provide a good communication between the players and the game.

Media - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSVD78vf1mU

Final product

Thule Omnistor 2200

A solution to cover the back of the Fiat Ducato.

I developed my master’s thesis in collaboration with Thule, a company that creates products for easy and safe transport especially for outdoor activities.

“Design a cover for the back of the Fiat Ducato which is ergonomic and easy to set up at any moment. This cover must give basic protection against rain and wind.” This was the initial research question for this project.

Individual1 year project

Master thesis

Thule Omnistor 2200

A solution to cover the back of the Fiat Ducato.

Everything starts with a good research and a lot of new ‘out of the box’ ideas: a complete closed tentstructure, an open structure,... A lot of ideas were generated and the best were selected for further research.

Ideation

Thule Omnistor 2200

A solution to cover the back of the Fiat Ducato.

I chose to work out a concept where 2 profiles slide out of each other and push a pvc covering out to obtain an awning system. To make sure this system of sliding profiles would work, I tested this with small prototypes which gave positive results.

Then I started to work out every aspect of the global design of my awning.

Concept

Thule Omnistor 2200

A solution to cover the back of the Fiat Ducato.

In general I knew what I had to achieve, so now it was time to research and develop how I would obtain this. I decided to start with a prototype on real scale to check if my idea would really work. Making the prototype would give me feedback to adapt my design and vice- versa.

Development

Version

Version 3

Version 1

Thule Omnistor 2200

A solution to cover the back of the Fiat Ducato.

After making this prototype, I figured out the critical points of my design, so I changed it to something that would work. Different versions of the awning were drawn to make it more compact. The materials for all of the components and the production methods were chosen.

The final prototype was a real scale part of the awning which was in particular 3D- printed. Because of the accuracy of this prototyping method, I could prove that this awning worked.

Development

Thule Omnistor 2200

A solution to cover the back of the Fiat Ducato.

The Thule Omnistor 2200 is an awning especially designed for the back of vans with side doors. It protects campers, sportsman and even contractors against rain and sun while using the van. The strengths of this design are the simplicity and the speed that the awning can be opened and closed with, as well as the feeling of freedom provided by the self-supporting structure. Moreover, the possibility to install the awning on multiple vehicles makes it unique in its context.

Final product

SPAN

‘A tensegrity based furniture set’ SPAN arose from the principle of ‘tensegrity’: creating a static structure by searching a balance between tensile and compressive forces.

Searching for this balance and combining it in furniture could give multiple benefits towards production, assembly, durability and of course the environment.

Individual1 year projectThesis

SPAN

‘A tensegrity based furniture set’

Again, by prototyping nearly every concept that might work I got a clear view of the feasibility of each concept. Finally I developed a bench which consists of two materials to create the tension. The oak parts in the bench absorb the pressure forces. On the other hand, the stainless steel profiles, steel cables and tensioners create the tensile forces. Moreover, sitting on the bench ensures that the structure will be tightened harder.

Development

SPAN

‘A tensegrity based furniture set’

Further improvements and details are made and a final prototype of the bench could be produced. The first prototype is fully handmade by myself.

Development

‘A tensegrity based furniture set’

The result of this process is a durable bench that can be assembled without glue or any screws, you don’ t even need tools to assemble and disassemble the bench. This product is also delivered ‘flat- pack’ and can be easily stored inside in winter which provides a longer life span.

With the same technique, I also made a table. The SPAN garden set is a fact!

Assembly - https://vimeo.com/169585333

Final product SPAN

Mr. Box

‘Small meeting rooms for open office spaces’

The Mr. Box is a product developed for the upcomming trend in open office spaces where small and acoustic rooms are needed for private meetings, concentration space, etc,...

With NNOF we try to reuse as many materials as possible from old particle boards and furniture. This is exactly where NNOF makes a difference in the production of office furniture in Belgium and Holland.

So, for this project my goal was to create a modular, environmental friendly and durable box that could compete on the market.

Development

Mr. Box

‘Small meeting rooms for open office spaces’

During a year we made several models of the box where we tried to improve every new version.

We ended up with a modular building block system - like lego - where every block could be made on the CNC- machine in our workplace. By doing this, assembly and disassembly becomes more easy, a lot of configurations are possible and on top of it we can say that the acoustic and environmental aspects are very good.

Development

BuzziDish

‘Silent signals’

Playful exterior, complex interior. This high-performance acoustic wall and ceiling treatment marries design and function with the recognizable shape, reminiscent of a satellite dish.

Together with Jeffrey Huyghe we developed from start to finish this acoustic solution in a time span of a year.

Development

BuzziDish

‘Silent Signals’

The challenge was to find a compact mechanism which allowed the user to turn the dish in several ways.

After thorough research and testing we created a double rotation system combined in one simple looking metal connection system.

In the meantime we developed the upholstered part of the dish with a combination of wood, foam and a perforated metal spinned dish for optimal acoustic properties.

Final product