Future autonomous always-on smart Edge-IoT nodes must be able to sense a wide variety of stimuli from their environment, interpret the data, and trigger appropriate responses, while surviving on a minimal energy budget. Connecting ever more discrete sensors to a microcontroller-based read-out circuit on a PCB is not sustainable on the long term, because it increases complexity, size, power consumption and bill of materials of the system. Instead, we need a generic scalable, integrated, manufacturable and cost-effective approach for simultaneously sensing a multitude of parameters like humidity, gases, odors, motion, air pressure, and infrared light.

The CMOS Pixelated Capacitive Sensor technology, originally developed by NXP Semiconductors, offers an ideal solution for this problem. It provides a true CMOS-compatible massively parallel physical sensing interface at the surface of a CMOS chip, on which multiple sensing functions can be implemented side by side using suitable transduction materials.

Your main task will be to realize this paradigm-shifting multi-sensing concept. This work is highly multi-disciplinary, including

• Integrating transduction materials on test chips currently under development using additive manufacturing
• Developing algorithms for calibrating and interpreting the sensor signals
• Building, testing and demonstrating convincing prototypes
• Collaborating with other academic and industrial researchers
• Publishing results in high-impact journals

• PhD degree in Electronics or Physics.
• Team player with strong competences in electronics, microfabrication, material science, and system integration.
• Experience with signal processing and machine learning is preferred.
• Good communication skills are mandatory.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. 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 we offer the Coming to Delft Service and Partner Career Advice to assist you with your relocation. An International Children's Centre offers childcare and there is an international primary school.

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 and aim to be as inclusive as possible (see our Code of Conduct). Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale.

Challenge. Change. Impact! 

Faculty Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) brings together three disciplines - electrical engineering, mathematics and computer science. Combined, they reinforce each other and are the driving force behind the technology we use in our daily lives. Technology such as the electricity grid, which our faculty is helping to make future-proof. We are also working on a world in which humans and computers reinforce each other. We are mapping out disease processes using single cell data, and using mathematics to simulate gigantic ash plumes after a volcanic eruption. There is plenty of room here for ground-breaking research. We educate innovative engineers and have excellent labs and facilities that underline our strong international position. In total, more than 1,100 employees and 4,000 students work and study in this innovative environment.

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science.