Danny Leen · Part-time assistant professor and senior researcher, Hasselt University

I research how people learn, work and collaborate with technology.

My work is in human-computer interaction. I study how people acquire and apply skills, from craft to industrial work, and use what I find to design and evaluate interactive systems.

Selected workDemo videos

LamiFold UIST 2020

Laser cutting functional mechanisms (rotary, linear, linkages) by selectively cutting and gluing stacks of sheet material. Carried out during a research stay at the Machine Agency, University of Washington.

Read the paper

JigFab CHI 2019

Laser-cut jigs that guide power tools, so casual makers can build joints normally reserved for artisans or CNC machines.

Paper

StackMold UIST 2019

A DIY multi-stage molding technique for multi-material, multi-color objects with embedded electronics.

Paper

StrutModeling UIST 2017

Adjustable struts and magnetic hubs for modeling 3D objects in physical space, with sensing for lengths and angles.

Paper
Publications2013 – 2026
2026
Best Paper AwardUnit-Less Measurements with StoryStick++: Rethinking Measurement as Interactive ProcessesStig Konings, Maties Claesen, Danny Leen, Mannu Lambrichts, Xander Vaes, Raf RamakersCHI 2026 · doi
2026
Learning to Delegate and Act with DELEGACT: Multimodal Language Models for Task-Level Human-Cobot Planning in Industrial AssemblyBram Verstappen, Dries Cardinaels, Danny Leen, Kris Luyten, Raf RamakersCHI 2026 · late-breaking work · doi
2026
Making It Work Is the Work: Engineering Maturity as Epistemic WorkDanny Leen, Stig Konings, Raf Ramakers, Kris LuytenCHI 2026 · workshop contribution
2026
Seeing Isn't Feeling: A Tooling Agenda for Iterative Perceptual Matching in Fabricated MechanismsMaties Claesen, Stig Konings, Danny Leen, Davy Vanacken, Raf RamakersCHI 2026 · poster · doi
2026
Best Poster AwardPRO-SKILL: A Platform for Classroom-based Multi-Modal Capturing and Automated Assessment of Manual Craftsmanship Skills using Trajectory-Based Probabilistic ModelingJasper Van der Auwera, Danny Leen, Gustavo Rovelo Ruiz, Wilm Decré, Erwin Aertbeliën, Stijn Kindt, et al.Flanders Make Scientific Conference 2026
2024
Designing Instructions using Self-Determination Theory to Improve Motivation and Engagement for Learning CraftHitesh Dhiman, Gustavo Alberto Rovelo Ruiz, Raf Ramakers, Danny Leen, Carsten RöckerCHI 2024 · doi
2023
Measurement Patterns: User-Oriented Strategies for Dealing with Measurements and Dimensions in Making ProcessesRaf Ramakers, Danny Leen, Jeeeun Kim, Kris Luyten, Steven Houben, Tom VeuskensCHI 2023 · doi
2023
Uncovering Craft: Identifying and Capturing the Rationale Behind Actions in CraftDanny Leen, Raf RamakersCHI 2023 · workshop contribution
2023
History in Motion: Interactive 3D Animated Visualizations for Understanding and Exploring the Modeling History of 3D CAD DesignsTom Veuskens, Raf Ramakers, Danny Leen, Kris LuytenSCF 2023 · doi
2023
Demonstrating History in Motion: Interactive 3D Animated Visualizations for Understanding and Exploring the Modeling History of 3D CAD DesignsTom Veuskens, Raf Ramakers, Danny Leen, Kris LuytenSCF 2023 · demo · doi
2022
Identifying Opportunities to Reimagine Parametric Modeling for MakersTom Veuskens, Danny Leen, Raf RamakersCHI 2022 · workshop contribution
2021
Unitless Fabrication: Measurement in Digital FabricationPhD dissertation, KU Leuven
2020
LamiFold: Fabricating Objects with Integrated Mechanisms Using a Laser Cutter Lamination WorkflowDanny Leen, Nadya Peek, Raf RamakersUIST 2020 · doi
2019
JigFab: Computational Fabrication of Constraints to Facilitate Woodworking with Power ToolsDanny Leen, Tom Veuskens, Kris Luyten, Raf RamakersCHI 2019 · doi
2019
StackMold: Rapid Prototyping of Functional Multi-Material Objects with Selective Levels of Surface DetailsTom Valkeneers, Danny Leen, Daniel Ashbrook, Raf RamakersUIST 2019 · doi
2018
Unitless: Modeling and Fabricating Objects without Measuring ToolsDanny Leen, Marc LambaertsFab14 + Fabricating Resilience · doi
2017
StrutModeling: A Low-Fidelity Construction Kit to Iteratively Model, Test, and Adapt 3D ObjectsDanny Leen, Raf Ramakers, Kris LuytenUIST 2017 · doi
2017
Honorable Mention, Best ImplementationThe FabLabLads: Three Hand Fabrication for AllTom Veuskens, Bert Van Deurzen, Danny LeenUIST 2017 · demo
2016
From Hacking Things to Making Things: Rethinking Making by Supporting Non-Expert Users in a FabLabKatrien Dreessen, Selina Schepers, Danny LeenInteraction Design and Architecture(s) · journal
2015
Participatory Design and Participatory Making in a FabLab: Challenges for Users and DesignersKatrien Dreessen, Jessica Schoffelen, Danny Leen, Ollivier PiquerayDesign4Health
2014
Break-it, Hack-it, Make-it: the "Hack-a-Thing" Workshop Series as a Showcase for the Integration of Creative Thinking Processes into FabLab GenkKatrien Dreessen, Selina Schepers, Danny Leen, Kris Luyten, Tom De Weyer, Johannes TaelmanA Matter of Design · 5th STS Italian Conference
2014
Great Expectations and Big Challenges: A FabLab as Facilitator for Personal Fabrication of Tools to Self-Manage DiabetesKatrien Dreessen, Jessica Schoffelen, Danny Leen, Ollivier PiquerayAll Makers Now? · Vol. 1
2013
Hack-a-thing: A Series of FabLab Genk Workshops for Reusing and Repurposing Depreciated ObjectsTom De Weyer, Johannes Taelman, Kris Luyten, Danny Leen, Selina Schepers, Katrien DreessenFabLabCon 2013
ProjectsCurrent and earlier

Current

AssembLLeM2026 – 2028 · IRVA, Flanders MakeLLM-based expert knowledge elicitation and semi-automatic generation of conversational digital work instructions.
FLEXLAS2026 – 2028 · COOCK+Flexible, dynamic and hybrid welding production.
PV Smart Manufacturing2026 – 2029 · InterregPV Smart Manufacturing and Automation, Industry 4.0.

Earlier

AUTOCRAFT2022 – 2026 · SBO, Flanders MakeCapturing craftsmanship through multi-modal sensing to build skill models and a training platform with personalized VR/AR, auditive and tactile feedback. Use cases with Pfizer, Atlas Copco and Daikin.
Tangible CNC (Maak-Machines)2019 – 2020 · Impuls fundingThe Make-Machines Initiative: open, multifunctional machines for drawing, cutting and 3D printing that remain approachable for non-experts.
Wa MakeFree STEM workshops for pupils aged 10 to 14 at FabLab Genk, supported by Flanders Make.
Design op Maat2012 – 2015 · OPAKBespoke Design: FabLab and open design for self-management tools for and with people with type 1 diabetes.
FabLab Genk2011 – 2015 · Interreg IVFounder and manager (2011–2021) of a lab where creatives and inventors explore digital fabrication together.
Teaching& supervision

Hasselt University, 2021 – present

Computational FabricationComputer Science and Industrial Engineering (co-titularis)
Engineering Interactive SystemsIndustrial Engineering (co-titularis)
Tools and Technologies for Interactive Systems DevelopmentComputer Science and Industrial Engineering
Designing Interactive SystemsComputer Science
Project and Communication Skills2024 – presentComputer Science
Digital Audio Processing2021 – 2022Computer Science

Supervision

PhD co-promoterStig Konings (2026) · Lars Gielen (from September 2026)
PhD committeeTom Veuskens (2019–2024), Advancing Design Reuse through Intelligible Dialogs in Feature-Based CAD Modeling
Bachelor and master thesesComputer Science and Industrial Engineering, on measurement instruments, XR, procedural knowledge, digital work instructions, human-cobot collaboration, CAD-driven fabrication and AI for learning motor skills.

Earlier: LUCA, Genk, 2010 – 2021

Interaction design, product design, physical computing, prototyping, experimental media, and the digital fabrication learning trajectory. I co-taught Tech Lab with Lieven Menschaert, where it became a tradition to build socially awkward robots.

Tech Lab 2018

Our first venture into animatronics.

Tech Lab 2019

Socially awkward robots, as tradition demands.

About

Skills, craft, and how people work with technology.

I am a part-time assistant professor and senior researcher in Human-Computer Interaction at Hasselt University, in the Digital Future Lab (DFL). I research how people learn and perform skilled work with interactive technology, from traditional craft to industrial assembly and welding. My current work covers digital work instructions, knowledge capturing, human-AI collaboration, and measurement and metrology in HCI.

My earlier work focused on digital fabrication, with technologies such as 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC milling, and on how design and fabrication can become easier to learn and use for non-expert users. Combining the precision of digital technology with the richness and tactility of craft remains a thread through my work.

I completed my part-time PhD in Interaction Design at KU Leuven in 2021, with a dissertation on Unitless Fabrication investigating how objects can be modeled and fabricated without conventional measuring tools. In parallel I founded and managed FabLab Genk and taught interaction design and product design at LUCA.

InterestsHuman-AI collaboration, digital work instructions, skill capture and training, measurement and metrology, computational fabrication
PhDKU Leuven, 2021
Unitless Fabrication
Advisors: Veerle Van der Sluys, Marc Lambaerts, Kris Luyten, Raf Ramakers, Dries Verbruggen
EarlierMaster in Communication and Media Design (with honors), LUCA/KU Leuven, 2010
Haptic Feedback for Digital Music Creation
ServiceTalks & exhibitions

Academic service

  • ACM UIST 2026 Associate Chair, Program Committee
  • ACM CHI paper reviewer 2024, 2025, 2026
  • ACM UIST paper reviewer 2023, 2024, 2026
  • ACM ISS 2024, 2025 · EICS PACM 2022, 2023, 2025 · IMWUT 2024
  • External reviewing for TOCHI, TEI, IEEE Pervasive Computing and IDC
  • Ambassador, Makerspace PXL (2025–2026)

Awards

  • 2026 Best Paper and Best Demo Jury Award, ACM CHI 2026 (StoryStick++)
  • 2017 Honorable Mention, Best Implementation, ACM UIST 2017 (The FabLabLads)
  • 2026 Best Poster Award, Flanders Make Scientific Conference 2026 (PRO-SKILL)
  • 2012 Second Prize, DIY Audio contest on Instructables (KeySampler)
  • Special recognition for reviewing: UIST 2023, CHI 2025, CHI 2026

Invited and public talks

  • 2026 Invited research talk, University of Copenhagen
  • 2026 Keynote, Competence Management & Expert Knowledge Capturing, Flanders Make
  • 2025 VOKA talk on AI in training experts
  • 2021–2025 Advanced Prototyping, Product Design, Antwerp
  • 2013–2016 Fab Talks: Leuven, Luxembourg, The Machine

Exhibitions

  • 2026 StoryStick++ demo, ACM CHI 2026, Barcelona
  • 2021 PhD defense exhibition, C-mine Genk
  • 2019 JigFab demo, ACM CHI 2019, Glasgow, and X-Festival
DesignInstallations & making

Alongside research I design and build interactive installations, instruments and furniture.

Speculum Musurgica installation
Speculum MusurgicaMedia installation by Rudi Knoops combining spatialised sound and cylindrical anamorphosis, with the Huelgas Ensemble. Built with Prof. Philippe Bekaert (Hasselt University).
Moonfield festival poster with the LED light bars
Moonfield 2024A system controlling 24,000 individually addressable LEDs for the Moonfield electronic music festival, with real-time visuals synchronized to the music.
KeySampler instrument
KeySamplerWith Lieven Menschaert: an Arduino-based audio-visual instrument built from bolts as touch inputs, with Pure Data/GEM. Second Prize in the DIY Audio contest on Instructables (2012).
Exploded Film installation
Exploded Film 2012A rollercoaster-shaped track representing a movie's plot, with a camera car following it. I designed the physical structure and the camera-car electronics.

Woodworking

I work with traditional tools and CNC machines, and this practice often feeds back into my research prototypes.

Plywood furniture at the PhD defense exhibition
PhD defense exhibition
Cabinet and slatted coat hanger
Cabinet and coat hanger
TV cabinet
TV cabinet
Contact

Let's collaborate.

[email protected]

Hasselt University, Campus Diepenbeek
Digital Future Lab (DFL)
Personal: [email protected]