Are you interested in giving a contribution to reduction of foot problems which diabetics may develop? And do you have knowledge of rigid-body modelling and FEM? Then this may be interesting to you! Foot ulcers (foot ulcers) are one of the most significant complications of diabetes, terms of the quality of life of patients as well as social care costs. The risk of developing diabetic foot ulcers can be limited by early fitting of well-fitting orthopedic shoes. For the time being this fitting is often not based on objective measurements, but based on the traditional expertise of the orthopedic shoemaker or podiatrist. In addition, existing measurement systems that can quantify the pressure on the skin inside a shoe are limited to only measuring underneath the foot, and are therefore unable to identify pressure points on top of or around the foot.  Because the top of the foot is where about half of all foot ulcers occur, it is important that the pressure can also be determined on this side. That is why a consortium of research institutions and companies seeks to develop a sensor sock that can map the pressure around the entire foot in a shoe. Because the properties of this sock, such as thickness and comfort, are comparable to ready-made socks, a realistic and reliable image can be obtained of the pressure profile around the foot, so that well-fitting shoe material can be designed. Within this consortium, the Department of Biomechanical Engineering has the task to:

• Develop a rigid-body / flexible body model of the foot and the shoe, to link measured pressures to pressure profile on the skin;
• Determine required sensor locations to get sufficient information for acquiring the full pressure profile;
• Develop an EEM-model of the foot which enables translation of the surface pressures to internal pressures in the soft tissues.

If you think you have the skills to execute these tasks, we might be interested to hear from you.

What we are looking for is a candidate who:

• Is highly motivated to work in a multi-disciplinary team;
• Holds a doctorate degree in biomechanics or mechanics, or in a related field;
• Has experience with rigid body modelling and Finite Element Modelling.

INFORMATION AND APPLICATION

If you want to obtain additional information or have questions, please direct these to prof. Bart Koopman (h.f.j.m.koopman@utwente.nl) or Edsko Hekman (e.e.g.hekman@utwente.nl).  For information about our group, please look on our website (https://www.utwente.nl/en/et/be/). 

You can submit your application before May 31 (including a letter motivating why you are applying for this position and your current c.v.) by clicking on the link “Apply now” which is supplied below.

• An 18-months postdoc position;
• A gross salary between € 3.255,- and € 4.274,- per month, depending on experience and qualifications;
• An annual holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, and an annual end of year bonus of 8.3%;
• A solid pension scheme;
• Minimum of 29 leave days in case of full-time employment;
• Professional and personal development programs;
• The University of Twente is situated on a green and lively campus with lots of facilities for sports and other extracurricular activities.

The University of Twente. We stand for life sciences and technology. High tech and human touch. Education and research that matter. New technology which leads change, innovation and progress in society. The University of Twente is the only campus university of the Netherlands; divided over five faculties we provide more than fifty educational programmes. We have a strong focus on personal development and talented researchers are given scope for carrying out groundbreaking research.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status. Because of our diversity values we do particularly support women to apply.

The Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) is one of the five faculties of the University of Twente. ET combines Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering and Industrial Design Engineering. Our faculty has approximately 1800 bachelor and master students, 400 employees and 150 PhD candidates. The departments of the faculty cooperatively conduct the educational programmes and participate in interdisciplinary research projects, programmes and the research institutes: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centra and Digital Society Institute.