The high-tech industry is dealing with systems getting more and more complex due to further automation and challenging innovations. This trend requires new generations of engineers who are educated to handle complex technical problems and lead the technological innovation.

Eindhoven University of Technology* (TU/e) in the Netherlands plays an important role within the high-tech industry in the Netherlands and in the World. TU/e's High Tech Systems Center (HTSC, a team of Eindhoven Artificial Intelligence Systems Institute, EAISI) aims to understand, teach and innovate system synthesis and design of complex equipment, instruments, robotic and manufacturing systems, and systems-of-systems. HTSC establishes cooperation between the TU/e and the high-tech industry.

As an initiative of the HTSC, the track of Mechatronic Systems Design was added to the competitive PDEng program Automotive Systems Design (ASD), accredited by the Dutch Ministry of Education, in 2015. Working with industry is an essential ingredient of this program. It is organized with close links to and cooperation with other successful PDEng programs such as Software Technology (ST). For the program PDEng Automotive Systems Design, the TU/e is looking for ambitious Master's graduates for:

2-year post-Master PDEng traineeships
Track: Mechatronic Systems Design

The next round of this 2-year program starts on October 31, 2022. This track of the program focuses on systems design and architecture in a high-tech systems context. It trains graduates from mechatronics related disciplines to become the professional system designers and grow faster towards system architects.

The program is devoted to deepening, broadening and reinforcing Mechatronics related technological knowledge and competencies, as well as personal and professional skills. This program with a unique structure consists of 4 educational blocks followed by an 11-12 months individual design project in industry. In the first 4 blocks about half the time is spent on lectures, workshops and training, and the other half on projects on solving a real-life problem from one of the industrial partners with a team.

The lecturers, who mostly have an extensive experience in industry and who cover the theory on topics such as systems architecture, design, and problem solving, return as coach during the projects to help translate the theory to practice. The lectures are in part general, in and part tailored to the problem domain coming up. Team projects are selected from different domains and address various technological areas to both provide multidisciplinary exposure and enhance cross-domain thinking. In this set-up the trainee gets the opportunity to experience the different roles that make a good team.

Program graduates will be awarded a certified diploma and the degree 'Professional Doctorate in Engineering' (PDEng). Their name will be entered in the PDEng register of the Royal Dutch Institute for Engineers (KIVI). The program is affiliated to the British Association of Engineering Doctorates (AEngD). As of 1 September 2022, the PDEng degree is called Engineering Doctorate (EngD), same as in the UK.

The PDEng program Mechatronic Systems Design is open to recent university graduates, and in particular to Master's graduates from one of the following fields: Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Applied Physics, Systems & Control or comparable.

The program is internationally oriented and taught in English. The candidate should furthermore have:

• Affinity with technology, keen interest in and good awareness of the current technological developments; knowledge of and affinity with mechatronics; experience with Matlab/Simulink or similar; preferably knowledge of Classical Feedback Control Theory, State Space Systems, and Signal Theory (or extended knowledge of other fields that are in high demand in de high-tech sector such as machine learning, material science, tribology, cryogenics, vision, instrumentation, and energy);
• An academic, critical attitude and a good awareness of the state of the art in engineering design for high tech systems, most notable in the area of the Master thesis project;
• The ability to choose and apply methods, tools and techniques to solve actual, practical problems;
• The ability to stay abreast of current developments in the field of high-tech mechatronic systems;
• Better than average social and communicative competencies, including an excellent English proficiency in writing, speaking, reading, and understanding;
• A clear ambition in an industrial career, and an inclination towards the design and development of innovative, complex products, transforming academic research results into practical solutions;
• Interest in being part of an international program with various cultures including the Dutch culture (and language).

TU/e offers program participants a full-time temporary appointment for the period of 2 years. Program participants will receive a monthly salary by Eindhoven University of Technology (gross monthly pay of € 2.009,-during two years based on 2022 figures). TU/e also offers a broad package of fringe benefits, including an 8% holiday allowance, an 8.3% end-of-year allowance, and excellent sports facilities. Migrants can make use of the 30% ruling (an income tax advantage). The formal employment position at the Technical University of Eindhoven is according to the Collective Employment Agreement of the Dutch academic universities (VSNU). Trainees do not have to pay tuition fees. The program is financed by the Dutch Government and the industrial partners.