Designer of
physical & digital
experiences.
Ir. Rhys Duindam · Lead Innovation Manager · i3CONNECT
Born in Syria, raised across seven countries, and at home in Eindhoven for over fifteen years. MSc Industrial Design, Cum Laude. Most of my career has sat at the intersection of hardware, software and the people who use both, which means the work tends to be somewhere between a product and an experience.
Design should improve self-esteem through fun activity.
Someone who takes action and changes the world does so because they know why they matter. Help people see themselves in the right light, and a butterfly effect begins. That belief runs through everything I make: products, systems and the teams who build them.
University educator
After an unexpected detour through Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft, I found my real discipline in Industrial Design at TU Eindhoven. Graduating Cum Laude, and being hired directly from the graduation assessment to teach bachelor and master students, told me something important about what the work could mean for others.
Award winning entrepreneur
OOOH Studio came next: a physical-digital experience studio for interactive installations at festivals and in brand environments. The MGNT installation at the STRP Biënnale 2017 won first prize for Creative Technology. Running alongside that, at Nupky, was Tingle: a patented music instrument that brought tactile, acoustic feedback back to digital music-making.
Full-stack innovator
The past seven and a half years have been at i3CONNECT, building Touchable Design from scratch. It’s the physical-digital experience framework that now underpins the company’s full product portfolio across fourteen markets. At the moment I’m leading the company’s first push into B2C, managing AI adoption across EMEA and Latin America, and responsible for design across hardware, software, brand and everything in between.
Game Master
Outside work: I run tabletop roleplaying campaigns, paint miniatures, walk around festivals handing Polaroid prints to strangers, and spend a lot of time thinking about the moment where technology stops announcing itself and just becomes part of life.
Let’s talk.
Whether you’re building something that sits between hardware and software, working through an innovation challenge, or just want to talk about why great design feels like magic: get in touch.