BHARATI PAWASKAR
His interests certainly have a wide band-width; they range from learning a new language to taking part in sports, from reading in peace to venturing outdoors for photography. He likes to explore new turfs, take up new opportunities and pursue his interests down the rabbit hole. These qualities came as a boon to Aman Dalal when it was time to pocket rewards and awards. Aman, a mechanical engineering early graduate (2014-18) from BITS Goa who bagged the Holland Scholarship by the Dutch Ministry of Education Culture and Science and the TU Delft Faculty Scholarship will be flying to the Netherlands on August 17. These scholarships came his way to allow him pursue MSc Integrated Product Design at the department of Industrial Design Engineering at TU Delft in the Netherlands.
These scholarships are awarded to excellent international students with a research oriented motive from a pool of thousands of applicants and will cover in total 30,000 Euros (Rupees 25 lakh) worth of expenses. He briefs, “With these funds I shall be pursuing a two-year master’s degree in a course that is a unique multidisciplinary blend of design and engineering. Receiving the Holland Scholarship followed shortly by the TU Delft Faculty Scholarship brought home immense happiness for me and my family. Being selected as a recipient from a pool of so many excellent international candidates at one of the best engineering and design schools in the world gave me a real sense of achievement as well as responsibility. Speaking of practical matters, it has drastically reduced the financial burden on my shoulders while being able to pursue world-class education in Europe.”
Eager to explore this small nation that boasts of a wealth of cultural heritage and is famous for its painters, windmills, clogs and flat lands, Aman feels that its small size, welcoming attitude to travellers and sights makes it a unique and easy to discover destination and that’s what makes him look forward to live and study there.
Aman points out, “Having keen interest in human powered vehicles, I had based my undergraduate thesis entirely on the design of a compact and collapsible human powered vehicle. The ability of humans to design a machine that converts their muscular effort to provide ten times the power has always fascinated me. The Netherlands, an environmentally friendly country where even the prime minister cycles to work every morning, will provide a perfect setting for me to carry out further research in this area and provide sustainable long term alternative solutions to the exploitation of fossil fuels.”
Another aspect which drew Aman towards living there is the humble lifestyle while being technologically so advanced. “I recently found out from a Tesla studio visit that the Netherlands is the first country where self-driving vehicles have been legalised due to the highly efficient road-maps. Apart from academic interests, the location of the country in Western Europe in the vicinity of Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, France, the Nordics, and so many other interesting places, satisfies the traveller inside me,” maintains Aman.
With his background in mechanical engineering, extensive experience in graphic design at his co-founded design firm Pixelworks, and a thesis in sustainable product design at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, Aman has found a perfect fit in the design degree offered by TU Delft, which is one of its kind in the world.
“I believe that the diverse culture, industrial exposure, and international environment at TU Delft would substantially expand my knowledge and help me contribute to outstanding projects. Product Design is a discipline that requires research, logical thinking, creativity, persistence, and an open mind and being chosen to do research in this, I wish to add more value to our beautiful world.”
With both his parents, Aashir and Purvi Dalal, being graphic designers in Gujarat, Aman’s home environment had been a big help in cultivating the designer in him.
Having done a thesis that falls in the category of Sustainable Mobility Design, Aman plans to explore this subject in greater depth and understand requirements of the future generations in order to make an impactful contribution to the field. “My interest in the topic arises from the fact that human beings have become so dependent on fossil fuels for transport that it is difficult to overcome the inertia and change the entire notion of vehicles. Though many electric vehicles have come up in the past decade, people do not seem to conform to their methods and costs especially in a developing country like India where the pollution levels have crossed serious boundaries.”
Human powered vehicles are not only the most environment friendly and compact short distance transport solution, but also are handy health equipment. “If implemented in a correct manner, these could prove to be extremely beneficial to busy corporate professionals in metropolitan cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai who do not get enough time to exercise due to their work and commute scenario,” feels Aman who will also explore diverse topics like ‘Internet of Things’ and ‘Product Design for Healthcare’ that would require a design thinking approach to the confronted problems.
Summing up Aman announces, “I’m looking forward to a dynamic, fun-filled, and adventurous future where I can connect the dots from all the little aspects of my life and work experience to bring a positive impact to myself, to my country, and to the world.”
