The Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) programme Energy & Process Technology offers you a 2-year position combining post MSc education and a design project to be carried out at Comfoor B.V.

The educational programme, carried out at the University of Twente, 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 Comfoor B.V. in Doetinchem you will work on high level, creative new designs for complex issues. 

• Background of the project: If hearing protection is (legally) mandatory, custom-made hearing protection is the best option. To promote the use of hearing protection, the hearing protection is made to fit as comfortable as possible, allowing the user to wear the protection all day. One burden of hearing protection devices is, however, the nuisance to frequently having to take them out at times where hearing protection is unwanted, like in conversations/discussions or breaks, and subsequently having to insert them again if the protection is required. This hampers the acceptance level to use hearing protection. A solution for this problem would be a protection device which stops unwanted noise if noise levels are high, but allows sound to enter the ear when noise levels are low. It is the intention of this PDEng project to design a hearing protection device having these features.
• Design concept: The core idea for this project is to use an energy-efficient, ‘passive’ electro-mechanical system to accomplish the desired functionality.
• Requirements: It is Comfoor’s conviction that hearing protection at a cost level of a hearing aid is commercially irrelevant, so the device must be cost efficient. Another aspect is that although we may allow to use a battery inside, to maintain functionality over a longer period of time, the device should be as energy efficient as possible. Additional requirements will be formulated within the project. The prototypes will be tested and an iterative process will yield the final design

• You hold a MSc degree with an electronic background, or a related discipline like Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Design, Applied Physics etcetera;
• You have demonstrated affinity with design and multidisciplinary assignments;
• You have a passion for finding solutions for complex technological issues;
• You have excellent collaboration and communication skills;
• You are self-starting and self-motivating, willing to take initiatives and feel the responsibility for your own project;
• 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).

Please send the following documents before 17-11-2017 through the link below:

• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae
• List with grades of courses attended
• References and, if applicable, a list of publications. 

If you have any further questions about this vacancy of the PDEng programme in Energy & Process Technology, please contact Dr.ir. Y.H. Wijnant:

• Email: y.h.wijnant@utwente.nl
• Telephone: +31 53 489 3635

Comfoor B.V. offers you a very challenging position for two years in an inspiring multidisciplinary and international environment. In the time we will provide you with a tailor made post-master design programme that has an educational component (~50%) as well as a design project (~50%). You will be supervised by a team of experts from both Comfoor B.V. and the University of Twente. The educational component will be chosen to closely match the project as possible. With respect to planning, preferably and where possible, courses and project start and progress in parallel.

The salary will be € 1828 gross per month.

On successfully completing the programme, you will receive a certified degree. You will be entitled to use the academic degree 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 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: MIRA, CTIT, SBE and IGS.