Driving Societal Change Through Inclusive STEM Research

The world is not built to accommodate everyone’s needs equally or equitably. Not yet, at least.

But society’s values are changing, and there is a greater awareness for the need to take differences into account. Differences in literacy, health, age, gender, cultural norms, cognition, etc. Many researchers at the TU Delft are working to improve the inclusivity of their efforts – from design, to engineering, to medicine or programming. How do they do it? And what are their results? Today’s event will show you examples and give you a chance to share your own questions and insights.

The diversity of human beings can determine whether a scientific innovation succeeds, fails, or fails a portion of its users. Think of engineers who developed screens without considering that every eighth man is colour-weak, which means they can’t or insufficiently recognize and distinguish red and green. Or think of all the health diagnostics and treatments tested on healthy young men – the group least likely to need them.

Come listen to prominent voices in Inclusive Research and Innovation, and reflect on what you as a (future) STEM researcher can do yourself. We will hear from Hanneke Takkenberg, Professor of Clinical Decision Making in Cardio-Thoracic Interventions at Erasmus MC and our own David Abbink, Professor of Haptic Human-Robot Interaction at the TU Delft. This interactive event will be moderated by Claudia Werker, chair of the Inclusive Research and Innovation (IRI) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiative at the TU Delft.

During the event you will:

• Learn about successful cases of Inclusive Research and Innovation in STEM.
• Have an opportunity to share your own questions and insights.
• Discover how you can make a difference in your own field.

This EDI Week event is open to everyone – students, staff, and researchers. It will conclude with an opportunity to chat and network over drinks.

Also check out other Health & Wellness events in Delft.