The project The market for truck and agricultural tires is very diverse. It ranges from light passenger vehicles, like minivans, up to heavy-duty construction and 18 wheel long-haul tractor trailers.
Although the market is very different in all cases the truck industry is driven by today’s legislation and economic climate more and more towards environmental aspects. Car manufacturer require three main qualities in tires: low rolling resistance (improve fuel efficiency) excellent grip (improve safety) and better durability (extending lifetimes).
The issue of wear represents a very important role in the functionality of products. As the tyre tread is in direct contact with the road it is disposed to the abrasive effect of the road. The abrasion is very dependent of the load, the driving force transfer and many other factors. Besides that truck tyres and agricultural tyres, which are used on very hard terrain conditions, are also exposed to sharp stone edges and terrain irregularities and gradually cut parts of the rubber tread surfaces. This is also known as chip and chunk.
The tire wear is usually tested under running conditions. This makes the test very time-consuming and expensive. To get reliable results tyres need to be tested for at least 6 months. The most known test in the industry is the BF Goodrich cut and chip tester. This test however does not correlate with the wear data obtained by field tests. Therefore it is useful to have a quick and reliable test equipment.
The main goal is to design of a new equipment and test method for chip and chunk prediction of TBR and agricultural tyres.
The deliverables of this PDEng project are:

• Literature and overview of existing methods
• Outdoor wear test conditions and analysis TBR and agricultural tires with chip and chunk.
• Phenomena investigation.
• Design of new equipment and test method or methods for it.
• Final correlation of new predictive lab test and chip and chunk outdoor data for TBR and agricultural tyres.

Are you passionate about high-end technological design? Do you want to continue developing your skills with a combination of education and work? 
The Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) programme Maintenance offers a 2-year position combining post-MSc education and a technological design project to be carried out at Apollo tyres. 

The educational programme at the University of Twente (UT), 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 Apollo Tyres in Enschede you will work on high level, creative new designs for complex issues.

You:
• hold an MSc degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design Engineering or a related discipline;
• have proven affinity with design and multidisciplinary assignments;
• have a passion for finding solutions for complex technological issues;
• have excellent collaboration and communication skills;
• 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).

Application 
Apollo Tyres will be involved in the admission procedure.
Please send the following documents before 10-11-2019 through the link below:
• Letter of motivation
• Curriculum vitae
• List with grades of courses attended
• References and, if applicable, a list of publications.

Contact information 
If you have any further questions about this vacancy of the PDEng programme in Maintenance, please contact Prof.dr.ir. D.J. Schipper:
• Email: d.j.schipper@utwente.nl
• Telephone: +31 53 489 2469

We offer a very challenging position for two years in an inspiring multidisciplinary and international environment. In this 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%). 
• A salary of € 1.913 gross per month;
• A holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary and a year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• A solid pension scheme;
• Minimum of 29 holidays in case of full-time employment.
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: Mesa+ Institute, TechMed Centra and Digital Society Institute.