Jerry de Vos is a Dutch industrial designer and engineer who defines the intersection of open-source hardware and environmental activism. He is best known for inventing the Plastic Scanner, a handheld device that identifies plastic types for recycling—an innovation that won him the global James Dyson Sustainability Award in 2021.
Unlike traditional inventors who seek patents, Jerry is a radical advocate for Open Science. He released the Plastic Scanner’s blueprints for free, believing that solving the global waste crisis requires collaboration rather than competition. His philosophy took shape while working with the Precious Plastic community, where he helped build recycling infrastructure in remote locations ranging from the Himalayas to the Maldives.
Currently based at TU Delft, Jerry works to bridge the gap between high-level academia and the grassroots maker community. Whether designing electronics or advocating for “citizen science,” his work is driven by a simple ethos: technology should be a tool for the many, not a “black box” for the few. He embodies the belief that to fix the planet, we must first share the tools to repair it.
CV
Work
- (2024- present) Delft University of Technology – StudioMake Coordinator
Split between practical and teaching roles, I provide prototyping support for Professors and PhDs, translating their idea into tangible projects, Additionally I develop and teach Industrial design students prototyping skills. - (2020- present) Freelance Design Consultant
Developing the future of the Plastic Scanner, Building prototypes with a specialization in recycled plastics and electronics. Consultancy for hardware development. Clients: FormFuncion, Smeerkees zonnebrand, Diagnostics For All - (2019-2023) Delft University of Technology – Open Hardware
Initiated the start of the Delft Open Hardware (D.O.H.) group, in order
to address the lack of open source projects coming from TU Delft.
Since September 2020 D.O.H. has been part of the Open Science Programme of the TU Delft - (2017-2022) Precious Plastic
Setup grassroots plastic recycling workspaces in low-resource
settings. In particular: Himalayas (2022), Algeria (2021), Mauritius (2020),
Maldives (2019). Developing the sheetpress machine and designing the iPhone case + injection mold. All shared open-source online for free.
Education
- (2018-2021) Delft University of Technology
WO – Msc. Integrated Product Design
- (2012-2016) Windesheim
HBO – Bsc. Industrial Product Design
- (2006-2012) H.N. Werkman college
VWO – Nature & Health
Other highlights
- (2023) – TEDx Talk
- (2023) – Distributed Design awards, Plastic Scanner
- (2021) – James Dyson Sustainability Award, Plastic Scanner
- (2016) – Graduation Philips
- (2014) – Internship We Are Perspective (Singapore)
- (1999) – My first perspective drawing at the age of 6 (still a lot to learn)
- (1996) – I have always been curious about how things work.
How about we do a thing or two together?
This website only gives an impression about who I am and what I do. If you would like to get to know me better, or you want to work together on a cool project:
Let’s grab a coffee!
You can reach me at: info@jerrydevos.com or through LinkedIn
