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. The transition is a relevant theme for society (as reflected by the Horizon 2020 Societal Challenges formulated by the European Commission), building industry and university (consider the TU/e's Strategic Areas: Energy, Health and Smart Mobility and the TU/e's Smart Cities Program).

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.

After the two year program our trainees become technical designers with a broad technological understanding of energy related disciplines in the built environment (mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, building physics and services and ICT), who excel in their own discipline and who are able to work in multidisciplinary design teams, contribute to design issues outside their own core disciplines, integrate different technologies into new products and concepts, and who understand the commercial aspects of these innovative products and concepts.



Job description

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 SB&C program consists of two main parts:

1. Workshops. You will follow technical workshops in which you acquire knowledge concerning important concepts of disciplines other than your own (master) specialism. You will follow these workshops with other SEB&C trainees (all with different master specialisms). The workshops increase your ability to effectively and efficiently communicate with these other disciplines in multidisciplinary design teams. Furthermore, you will follow workshops on design methods, entrepreneurship and professional skills.

2. Design projects. You will work on a design project with a group of SEB&C trainees and you will work an individual in-company assignment (see description below). The latter is a design project in collaboration with a company and the university. You work within the company structure (facilities, office desk, computer and other required equipment are provided by the company). It is your main responsibility to manage and execute the project. You are supported by an advisor from the company and an advisor from the university. A business plan for implementation or marketing of the project or product is part of the final deliverables.

A significant part of the first year of the program is dedicated to the workshops, while the second year is mostly dedicated to the in-company assignment. Nonetheless you will start working on the in-company assignment from the start of the program. The in-company assignment related to this traineeship is described below.

Close to Helmond a new smart district is under development, Brainport Smart District. As a start in 2018 an innovative smart house is constructed designed and engineered by the TU/e student team CASA. De CASA house is based upon innovative concepts, such as: Building-Integrated PV with thermal collection (BIPV-T) (rooftop), Seasonal Thermal Energy Storage (STES) (underneath the home), Local nano DC-grid, and Autonomous control system for climate, security, health & other IoT applications. In order to adapt the CASA home to new circumstances (new technologies, new inhabitants) and to give the house tenants/owners control over their own facilities, the existing BIM system WoonConnect will be applied. WoonConnect is a comprehensive building modelling tool, with a rich underlying dataset of building components and material properties. Additionally, WoonConnect can be tailored to do survey on people's preferences for living and their living environment. WoonConnect utilizes Labels to indicate the current state of a building and to allows user to express the desire state. Bases upon this information the system proposes adaptation strategies. Currently Woonconnect supports labels for Energy, Care, and Comfort. In this project a new Circularity label is developed and applied to the CASA home.

An extensive literature review is executed on existing circularity index systems. From the review a complete overview is provided on the application domain, required input data, required expertise, underlying scoring method, etc. Based on this overview a list of circularity criteria is composed that can cover the intended client needs. The completeness and unambiguity of this list is tested in a questionnaire amongst potential end-users. Based upon the available building component and material data from the WoonConnect system, a circularity score calculation method is developed. The calculation method allows for multivariate calculation including different weighting methods.

A new add-on is developed for the WoonConect system of the Twee Snoeken that supports clients in determining their own circularity score with a reference to existing scoring methods.

Who can apply?

We are looking for
• an excellent and highly motivated candidate with an MSc degree in Architectural Engineering, Building Science, Building, Civil, Mechanical or Environmental Engineering, or equivalent. Knowledge from sustainability and user preferences analyses are essential and experience in Building Information Modelling and software development are beneficial.
• an interest in developing new sustainable technologies and applications for the built environment.
• an academic attitude in order to develop new technologies and perform applied research with an integral view on what is needed for the future built environment.
• an excellent command of the English language, both in speaking and writing.

What do we provide?

We offer a fulltime traineeship of two years. The traineeship is a formal employment at the Eindhoven University of Technology according to the Collective Labour Agreement Dutch Universities (CAO-NU). Trainees receive a financial compensation according to this standard. Bruto salary: € 1749

Trainees are provided with their own work place in the building of the Department of the Built Environment. The university provides all general modern facilities belonging to first class universities; mediation in housing, excellent sports facilities, language courses, modern digital library facilities etc. For more information please visit www.tue.nl/en/.