Hi, I am Tom, an Industrial Designer and Product Developer. I love working with changemakers in communities and industry.

Product Design has an impact on the behavior and consciousness of the consumers. Since we are all users of the products we design, let's collaborate to create, learn and grow together.

Design Approach

I am motivated by the current environmental and technological changes and see myself as a part of the solution to tomorrow's challenges. How do I address these?

  • Holistic design is a broad concept that I seek to understand and master.
    I integrate social, economic and environmental aspects into product development.
  • We are getting more and more connected worldwide.
    Design global, manufacture local.
  • Globalization brings more and more complexity that needs to be understood and worked with.
    Design circular systems.

Values

Balance

Nature – Human – Technology. Everything on our planet is somehow interconnected and the world works in many systems - some created by nature, some by humans. Design is the power to rethink and create.

Awareness

I believe that bringing awareness for products and its lifecycle to the markets can open up new opportunities and lead to global improvement.

Openness & Inclusion

The foundation of collaboration is openness. Let's break down stereotypes and prescribed roles and harness the power of collective intelligence.

Education and Experience

  • 17th International Design Workshop 2018 participation
    Hefei, Anhui – China
  • B.A. Industrial Design, University of Applied Sciences Magdeburg-Stendal
  • Industrial Design Internship
    WILDDESIGN GmbH, Gelsenkirchen
  • M.Sc. - Integrated Design Engineering, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg
  • Working Student Job 2D/3D-Visiaulization
    neotiv GmbH, Magdeburg
  • Masters Thesis
    "A holistic product development for solar drinking water production based on Open Source Hardware"
    Germany & Greece
  • Freelance - Tom Dietel Design (06/2023)
  • Forum Open Hardware 03/2023 – Project presentation LibreWater
    https://hardware.forum-open.de/
  • Winner of the Make it Circular Challenge 2023 – LibreWater
    https://makeitcircular.whatdesigncando.com/winners/
  • Bootcamp & Development Program of What Design can Do
    Amsterdam, remote
    https://makeitcircular.whatdesigncando.com/development-programme-2/

Network

Global innovtion Gathering (GIG)
I am part of this vibrant, diverse community of  innovation hubs, makerspaces, hackerspaces and other grassroots  innovation communities alongside individual innovators, makers, technologists and changemakers.
https://globalinnovationgathering.org/

Distributed Design
A community of designers, makers and creatives to innovate the field of design towards more sustainable, open, inclusive and collaborative practices. It is a  proactive response for makers and designs to prefigure viable design alternatives to the current paradigm designed for mass consumption.
https://distributeddesign.eu/talent/librewater/

Let us create a world of balanced wealth and consumption in a system of coexistence under constant change.