Hydrogen is projected to play an important role in a future carbon-neutral society. As a mixture of hydrogen and air can be explosive under certain conditions, hydrogen sensors that can identify the tiniest leaks will be pivotal for the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier.The structural safety of composite hydrogen tanks in aviation is supported by health monotoring sensing and algorithms to guide the maintence procedures.TU Delft is participating in several national and European projects and is developing an interdisciplinary team to address the research challenges.Project tasks include:

(1) Measure existing hydrogen sensing materials under conditions relevant to aviation (e.g. hign and low temperatures) and develop new materials if required. While many materials have been developed for room temperature applications, at present these materials have not been measured at temperatures sutiable for aviation applications. This part will mainly be experimental and involve the deposition of the thin film materials with a thickness of tens of nanometres (magneton sputtering) and testing/analysis of the materials under various conditions (temperature, hydrogen concentration) with optical and structural measurements (for example X-ray diffraction)

(2) Creating and testing a fibre-optic hydrogen sensing with the developed hydrogen sensing materials such as a tilted fibre Bragg grating or a micro-mirror sensor. The fibres will be coated with the hydrogen sensing materials from Part 1 which will have a thickness of tens of nanometres. This part of the project will be a combination of modelling the fibre optical system and experimentally realising the most optimal configuration.

(3) Design of a structural health monitoring system for composite hydrogen tanks for aviation, taking into account the structural integrity, failure mechanisims, sensor performance and signal processing.

(4) Constructing a proof-of-principle prototype sensor that can be used as a portable demonstrator. This part will be a combination of experiments and engineering.

Note you do not need to have expertise in all these topics,but you should have a high level of expertise in at least one of them and the ability to contribute in a supporting role to some of the other tasks.

- You should have a PhD in Materials Science, Physics or an Enginering discipline (Aerospace preferred). 

Fixed-term contract: 1 year.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (based on scale 10: € 3.226,00 - € 5.090,00).  The employment contract is offered for 1 year. The position is open for 40 hours per week. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, a discount on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants, TU Delft has the Coming to Delft Service. This service provides information for new international employees to help you prepare the relocation and to settle in the Netherlands. The Coming to Delft Service offers a Dual Career Programme for partners and they organise events to expand your (social) network.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Aerospace Engineering

The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology is one of the world’s most highly ranked (and most comprehensive) research, education and innovation communities devoted entirely to aerospace engineering. More than 200 science staff, around 270 PhD candidates and close to 3000 BSc and MSc students apply aerospace engineering disciplines to address the global societal challenges that threaten us today, climate change without doubt being the most important. Our focal subjects: sustainable aerospace, big data and artificial intelligence, bio-inspired engineering and smart instruments and systems. Working at the faculty means working together. With partners in other faculties, knowledge institutes, governments and industry, both aerospace and non-aerospace. Working in field labs and innovation hubs on our university campus and beyond. 

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering.