PDEng 3D printing of multiple materials: Concrete, Insulation, Reinforcements

PDEng position to develop 3D printing technology for multiple materials: Concrete, Insulation, and possibly Reinforcements, to be used to fabricate 3D printed building panels. Candidates have an MSc in Mechanical, Civil, or Industrial Engineering; have strong technical skills; are familiar with Dynamics and Control, and can write well-structured texts in fluent English.

The Department of the Built Environment of the Eindhoven University of Technology offers you a PDEng position to follow a two-year post-master technological designer program, which leads to the degree of 'Professional Doctorate in Engineering' (PDEng). The program consists of first year workshops and a second year design project.



To meet the targets set by the Dutch government to fulfil the Paris Climate agreement (2015), tomorrow's renovation of housing requires extensive research and engineering, made possible by the recent financing of the nationwide research program BTIC. Within this program, it is realized that he renovation of many buildings can take place by stripping their existing facades, and by replacing these facades by new panels that are both structurally sound (to serve as a structural facade) and insulate thermally well. However, as almost every building is unique, this requires custom production, i.e. 3D printing, and a technology that can print multiple materials during the manufacturing process. The PDEng second year design project will develop this technology. It will make use of technology for 3D printing of concrete as developed at Eindhoven University of Technology, and will extend this for with the possibility to include several materials (concrete and insulation, and possible reinforcements). The design project will be carried out in the unit of Structural Engineering and Design (https://www.tue.nl/en/research/research-groups/structural-engineering-and-design) within the Chairs of Concrete and Masonry Structures and Applied Mechanics, and with additional support from company Saint Gobain Weber Beamix (Dr. Blaakmeer) and the Chair of Design Systems (Prof. Bauke De Vries).

The first year workshops will be arranged by the Smart Buildings & Cities PDEng program, which contributes to the transition towards smart, intelligent and sustainable cities via new solutions which can only be created through multiscale and transdisciplinary (design) approaches. You will follow technical workshops in which you acquire knowledge concerning important concepts of disciplines other than your own (master) specialism. You will follow these workshops with other trainees (all with different master specialisms). The workshops increase your ability to effectively and efficiently communicate with these other disciplines in multidisciplinary design teams. Furthermore, you will follow workshops on design methods, entrepreneurship and professional skills. This enables you to become a technical designer with a broad technological understanding of energy related disciplines in and engineering environment (mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, building physics and services and ICT). You will excel in your own discipline and you are able to work in multidisciplinary design teams, contributing to design issues outside your own core disciplines; integrating different technologies into new products and concepts; and understanding the commercial aspects of these innovative products and concepts.

• An excellent and highly motivated candidate with an MSc degree in Mechanical, Civil, or Industrial Engineering, and strong technical and experimental skills.

• Knowledge and experience in: Experimental Mechanics, Dynamics and Control
• Preferably also experience in scripting and programming.
• An academic attitude to develop new systems and perform applied research with an integral view on what is needed for the future built environment.
• An excellent command of the English language, both in speaking and writing, and structured writing skills in general.

We offer a fulltime PDEng traineeship of two years. The traineeship is a formal employment at the Eindhoven University of Technology according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (CAO-NU). Trainees receive a financial compensation according to this standard. Gross monthly income: € 1913



Trainees are provided with their own work place in the building of the Department of the Built Environment. The university provides all general modern facilities belonging to first class universities; mediation in housing, excellent sports facilities, language courses, modern digital library facilities etc. For more information please visit http://www.tue.nl/en/.