‘Digital media help me to envision future interactions with living materials’
Jose is a researcher in the Caradt Biobased Art and Design research group. His work focuses on supporting ongoing research with living materials by incorporating computational design and digital visualization techniques.
Throughout his life as a researcher, he has been passionate about exploring intersections between biology, engineering, and design. In 2019 he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia (Canada) where he specialized in biomedical engineering. As a student Jose interned at numerous companies and research labs, working for clients such as Nike and Sugoi on a range of processes, from developing accessible surgical equipment to conducting aerodynamic testing on sports fabrics.
He continued his studies at TU Delft on the Integrated Product Design Master’s programme. During his master’s, Jose became interested in combining computational design with biological/bioinspired systems to develop unique material experiences. In 2021 he presented his thesis with the Materials Experience Lab. Using material driven design (MDD) and computational tools, he created Tex(alive), an animated textile toolkit which aids designers who want to explore the material experience of livingness in shape-changing interfaces. Currently, Jose is collaborating with Clarice Risseeuw to develop an interactive digital tool for the Coloured by Flavo project.
Publications
Risseeuw, C., Martinez Castro, J. F., Barla, P., & Karana, E. (2023). FlavoMetrics: Towards a Digital Tool to Understand and Tune Living Aesthetics of Flavobacteria.
In DIS ’23: Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp. 2079–2092). Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). https://doi.org/10.1145/3563657.3596085
Research Group: Biobased Art and Design
The research group Biobased Art and Design capitalises on the role of artistic practice in unlocking the unique potentials of living organisms for everyday materials and communicating these to a broader public. In doing so, the group aims to instigate and accelerate our widespread understanding, further development and usage of such materials. The group’s research approach encourages tangible interactions with the living organisms, such as algae, fungi, plants and bacteria, to explore and understand their unique qualities and constraints through diverse technical and creative methods taking artists, designers and scientists as equal and active partners in the material creation.
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‘How can art and design cultivate critical expressions rooted in ethics of care and relationality to influence ecological, social, and economic structures?’
Delfina Fantini van Ditmar 
‘It is through the “not-knowing” that a stimulating and caring environment can be created to confidently share vulnerability.’
Risk Hazekamp
‘Exploring and integrating novel perspectives to our everyday through the eyes of fungi.’
Wasabii Ng
‘The dynamic relationship between humans and living artefacts will continue to evolve reciprocally with mutual care.’
Elvin Karana
‘In my work the concept of time is a recurring theme.’
Xandra van der Eijk
‘Bacteria, Fungi, Humans, all part of the same experiment.’
Ward Groutars
‘The pleasure of working in the [MI] lab is that microbiological research is carried out from two different approaches.’
John van der Werf
‘I believe a collaborative and efficient lab can address both educational and research demands.’
Serena Buscone
‘I am eager to explore how unique qualities of ‘living materials’ can transform the way we think, feel and act.’
Hazal Ertürkan
‘Nature is a perfect example of an iterative design process. It is inspiring and full of exciting solutions.’
Clarice Risseeuw