Dr. P.E. Vermaas

Pieter Vermaas joined the Ethics and Philosophy of Technology Department of Delft University of Technology after obtaining his PhD on the philosophy of quantum mechanics at the Institute for History and Foundations of Science of Utrecht University.

In Delft Pieter helped creating the Dual Nature of Technical Artifacts research program (2000-2005), in which technical artefacts were analysed as having both structural and intentional natures, with functions playing an important role in relating these natures. From 2006 to 2010 he researched with an NWO VIDI fellowship the use of functions and functional decompositions in engineering design methods. His current research focusses on design and is aimed at analysing design methods for understanding what design is and for validating design methods.

Pieter helped launching the TU Delft Institute for Design for Values in 2017, and its aim to further the incorporation of moral, societal and legal values in technology through design is a key focus in his research on design methods.