Are you interested in high-end technological designs?

Then, the Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) programme Robotics is very interesting for you. The PDEng programme is a 2-year Post-Master programme with a focus on technological design. This programme at the University of Twente contains an educational part that will be followed at the University, and a design project that will be carried out at Pan Oston in Raalte. The educational programme will have an in-depth and broadening character with ample attention for professional development and will be partly tailored to the design project. In collaboration with Pan Oston, high level, creative and new designs for complex issues will be aimed at.

PDEng Design Project - Design a future smart robotized welding cell for short production series

Pan-Oston B.V. has many years of experience in (robotized) welding of sheet metal products. As production series become shorter and international competition increases, the need has risen for the design of a novel welding production cell that can switch between short production series efficiently while maintaining product quality and ensuring operator safety. The solution directions to be explored are centered on sensory based optimization of the workflow and the continuous integration of weld quality checks in the production chain. Within this future scenario the need for close cooperation between the robot, the production cell and the operator is of vital importance to ensure optimal flow of products through the factory.

The goal of this design project is to design the future robotized welding cell of Pan Oston.

Currently, one welding robot is used that attends two stationary welding fixture tables. The production rate of this work cell is defined by the speed of loading/unloading the welding fixtures, which results in a low use efficiency of the welding robot. The redesign of this work cell will focus among others on efficient product flows through the cell, improved product clamping fixtures and finally weld quality feedback.

We are searching for the best MSc graduated candidates (or graduates with several years of experience) in the field of Electrical Engineering, Industrial Design Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Systems & Control, or a related robot-technical discipline. Candidates should have a demonstrable affinity with design and multidisciplinary assignments. Besides, you must have the ambition and talent to accelerate in finding solutions / creating designs for complex robot technological issues with a multidisciplinary character. Important professional skills are communication and interpersonal skills, teamwork, initiative and self-reflection.

Candidates with a non-Dutch qualification and who have not had secondary and tertiary education in English can only be admitted with an IELTS-test showing a total band score of at least 6.5, internet TOEFL test (TOEFL-iBT) showing a score of at least 90, or a Cambridge CAE-C (CPE).

An interview will be part of the selection procedure.

Application
Please send your letter of motivation, with a curriculum vitae, a list with grades of courses attended, references and, if applicable, a list of publications before 15-08-2017 through the link below.

Contact information
If you have any further questions about this vacancy of the PDEng programme in Robotics, please contact Dr.ir. T.H.J. Vaneker

• Email: t.vaneker@utwente.nl
• Telephone: +31 53 489 2472
• General information about PDEng programmes you can find at our website.

We offer a contract for 24 months. During these two years, you will follow a tailor made post-master design programme with a combination of education (~50%) and working on a design project (~50%) for Pan Oston. The salary will be € 1.828 gross per month. Additionally, the University of Twente provides excellent facilities for professional and personal development, a holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus.

On successfully completing the programme, you will receive a certified degree. You will be entitled to use the academic degree Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) and will be registered as a Technological Designer in the Dutch register kept by the Royal Institution of Engineers in the Netherlands (KIVI).  

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

The Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) is one of the five faculties of the University of Twente. CTW 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: MIRA, CTIT, SBE and IGS.