Our team

Our team
This program is offered to you by research group Co-Design (HU Utrecht University of Applied Sciences) and operated by Fundamentals Academy. Over 20 professionals are directly connected to our studio. This means that during the program we are well-connected, and our juniors benefit from this for the knowledge brought in is crisp and fresh.
The Juniors
In Co-Design Studio we work with students with a lot of different backgrounds, every semester we have a new team ready to work on the socially relevant challenges of our clients. In the studio we prefer to call the students 'juniors'. Our new group will start in September
The Coaches
We use titles for our coaches that might not mean anything to you, let us try to explain. There are Design Coaches (the ones coaching teams through the design projects), Lead Coaches (responsible for a specific aspect of the program such as the War Room) and we have Life Coaches (supporting the students in becoming aware of their personal and professional growth).

We borrow most of the coaches from the professional field, they are connected via the network of Fundamentals Academy. We also involve several of our alumni in the program as Design Coach or consultant, showcasing the engagement we value so much. Our core team exists of:
Jasper Huitink
Coordinator - University of Applied Sciences Utrecht
Reach out
Kim van Veldhuijzen
Coordinator - Fundamentals Academy
Reach out
Jens Gijbels
Program Leader
Noortje Braaksma
Internal Line Coach
Francine Groenewoud-Knüppe
Head of Life Coaching
Our Alumni
We are running this project since 2009. This means that we had more than 400 juniors going through this learning experience.
2024-2025 CD - Edition #19
Alvia Merchant
Global Design
Baptiste Marchand
IT & Networks
Benjamin Väisänen
Interior Architecture
Carlota Oliveira Silva Vieira
Global Design
Chris Thomassen
Communication &
Multimedia Design
Diego De Pablo Munguia
Architecture
Diogo Marques Ferreira
Global Design
Isabeau Princen
Teaching Visual Arts & Design
Lara Liem
Fashion & Textile Technology
Max Tieland
Communication &
Multimedia Design
Mikk Oja
Community Development
Sören Chataigner
IT & Networks
Thomas Guerin
IT & Networks
Umut Işık
Interior Architecture
Viola Lohaus
User Experience Design
Any questions? Please do not hesitate to contact us.