Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) has a vacancy for a

Post-Master PDEng position on wireless technologies in future aircrafts

in the Electro-Optical Communication Systems (ECO) group, department of Electrical Engineering

The ICT post-master designers program is a two-year salaried program in the field of technological design in Electrical Engineering. The program leads to a Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) degree.

PDEng project
Wireless technologies are scarcely applied in aircraft applications. Currently wireless technologies are applied for example for In Flight Entertainment (IFE) and wireless interfacing maintenance data to the operator. However, wireless technologies have a significant potential to reduce weight and ease configurability of interfaces between the electrical systems in an aircraft and may be a key enabler of future applications such as autonomous self-configuring wireless data networks and remote local data communication for sensors only.

The project objective is twofold. The first objective is to determine a substantiated vision on wireless technologies in future aircrafts and design and build a proof-of-concept demonstrator to support this. The second objective is to obtain the knowledge about the multidisciplinary topics that apply to wireless technologies and their potential applications.

The work will be executed in close cooperation with Fokker Elmo. The project activities will be carried out partially at Fokker Elmo, Hoogerheide, and partially at TU/e.

Fokker Elmo
Fokker Elmo (https://www.gkn.com/en/our-divisions/gkn-aerospace/our-solutions/), being member of GKN Fokker Technologies, is a global player in design and manufacturing of Electrical Wiring Interconnection Systems (EWIS) for aerospace application. Fokker Elmo headquarters are located in Hoogerheide in the Netherlands while manufacturing sites are located in Turkey, China and India. Fokker Elmo's customer portfolio contains all major aircraft manufacturers for civil and military application.

EWIS provides a challenge in complexity. The complexity is typified by the following facts and figures. EWIS for a single aisle aircraft transports 4000 signals over 90 km of cable that weigh 800 kg and occupies 7 cubic meters. The design is made in a multi company, multi-disciplinary concurrent Engineering environment facing continuous changing data and configurations during the aircraft design phase. Electrical, mechanical, geometrical and system functional reliability concerns and constraints are considered, anticipating manufacturability, installability and maintainability. This challenge requires approximately 200 thousand engineering hours over a period of 3 years.

Department of Electrical Engineering
The Department of Electrical Engineering is one of the nine departments of the Eindhoven University of Technology and provides BSc and MSc programs in Electrical Engineering. The department has nine research groups and has research collaborations with other departments at the Eindhoven University of Technology as well as with a large number of other universities and companies, both within the Netherlands and internationally. The department has approximately 350 employees and 900 students.

Electro-Optical Communication Group
The Electro-Optical Communication Systems (ECO) group focuses its research on optical communication system techniques, ranging from very high speed long range transmission links, ultra-fast (all-) optical packet switching nodes, to multi-service flexible access and in-building networks, including wireless. Members of the ECO group have initiated, managed and participated in many national and EC projects (e.g. IOPGenCom, Freeband, RACE, ACTS, IST FP5, FP6, FP7, and currently H2020), notably in the area of access and short-range networks. ECO is also a leading partner in several national projects in the area of access and in-building networks and is actively involved in the definition of new innovation programs in The Netherlands. ECO is part of the Center for Wireless Technology Eindhoven (CWTe).

Candidates for the PDEng positions should have a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Computer Science, or a related topic, with excellent grades, an interest in combining theory and experiment and well-developed analytic skills. A background in wireless communication is recommended.

We offer a fulltime temporary appointment for the period of 2 years. Participants will receive a gross monthly salary of € 1865-. Moreover 8% bonus share (holiday supplement) and end year allowance is provided annually. Assistance for finding accommodation can be given. The university offers an attractive package of fringe benefits such as excellent technical infrastructure, child care, savings schemes, and excellent sports facilities.