Fulltime, two year trainee position at the PDEng program Smart Buildings & Cities embedded in the Building Lighting Group (Department of the Built Environment). We are looking for candidates with a strong interest in (day)lighting engineering and design and a MSc degree in building or architectural engineering, industrial design, lighting design, or similar.

Smart Buildings & Cities PDEng program

The Smart Buildings & Cities PDEng program wants to contribute to the transition towards smart, intelligent and sustainable cities where quality of life is high. This transition requires new solutions which can only be created through multiscale and transdisciplinary (design) approaches. This requires technical designers who are able to work in a multidisciplinary environment and know how to communicate with different disciplines and stake holders. This PDEng program educates trainees to become those technical designers! Please note that this program is about technological design, i.e., the process of solving problems by means of a technological design, this in contrast to (PhD) research, which is the process of understanding problems.

The Department of the Built Environment of the Eindhoven University of Technology offers you a trainee 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 two main parts running in parallel:
-Half of the program consists of post-master level education in the form of generic design projects and courses about design methods, entrepreneurship and professional skills. Furthermore, it includes several technical courses about topics relevant to SBC. This part of the program also offers ample opportunity to develop professional skills.
- The other half of the program is dedicated to an individual design project in collaboration with a company. It is the trainees main responsibility to manage and execute the project. Each trainee is supported by an advisor from the company and an advisor from the university. A business plan for implementation or marketing of the designed product or process is part of the final deliverables.

The PDEng trainee will be embedded in the Building Lighting group embedded in TU/e's Intelligent Lighting Institute. The company involved in this project is the Velux Group, an international roof window manufacturer. The VELUX products help to create bright, healthy, energy-efficient places in which to live, work, learn and play.

The company design project is to develop a personalized exposure recommendation guide considering home-office lighting conditions. The essence of lighting design is not only to ensure that people can see and perceive the environment, but also to contribute to human health, performance and wellbeing. Especially for the effects beyond vision, it is highly relevant to know the amount and type of light an individual receives at eye level. This amount and type of light (daylight outdoors or entering buildings through windows and skylights as well as electric light) an individual receives depends on multiple aspects (e.g., context, environment, building characteristics, user aspects). This project firstly aims at identifying which variables explain personal lighting conditions and categorizing their impact (high/medium/low). These insights will be based on existing datasets and findings published in literature. Furthermore, the project will result in an exposure recommendation guide that considers personal lighting conditions targeting at letting every individual get exposed to the right light at the right time. The recommendation guide is based on the variables as identified before and considers standards/regulations, the current situation of the end user and future prospects to provide personalized recommendations. The focal point will be to provide recommendations for the end user in the 'new normal' (i.e., the situation in which knowledge workers are more working from home after the COVID-19 pandemic than they were used to). The project deliverable can be in the form of guidelines or a decision tree including assistance when the individual considers moving, renovating, or building new. Stakeholders include but are not limited to house builders, architects, and lighting designers. 

For questions about the project contact dr.ir. Juliëtte van Duijnhoven (j.v.duijnhoven1[at]tue.nl).

• a MSc degree in building or architectural engineering, industrial design, lighting design, or similar
• a strong interest in (day)lighting technology, data analysis and tool-development
• an academic attitude in order to develop a personalized exposure recommendation guide considering home-office lighting conditions. This recommendation guide should contribute to the healthy buildings focus as part of the future built environment.
• an excellent command of the English language, both in speaking and writing

• A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university with a close relationship to industry.
• A full-time employment for two years.
• To support you during your PDEng and to prepare you for the rest of your career, you will have free access to a personal development program for PDEng trainees.
• A gross monthly salary (€ 2002.00) and benefits in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.
• Additionally, an annual holiday allowance of 8% of the yearly salary, plus a year-end allowance of 8.3% of the annual salary.
• A broad package of fringe benefits, including an excellent technical infrastructure, moving expenses, and savings schemes.
• Family-friendly initiatives are in place, such as an international spouse program, and excellent on-campus children day care and sports facilities.
• Assistance for finding accommodation is offered.