If you like to translate scientific knowledge into practical applications, then the Professional Doctorate in Engineering (PDEng) programme is probably very interesting for you. The PDEng programme is a 2-year post MSc technological programme with a focus on technological design, and in this project especially using very new scientific results. For the proposed position the educational part of the programme is at the University of Twente , while the practical work, that is the design and experimentation, will be carried out in the laboratories of both the Nanolab of the University of Twente and in the R&D labs of Océ in Venlo. The educational programme will have an in-depth and broadening character with ample attention for professional development and will be partly tailored to the project. Training in design and fabrication of Si-MEMS devices and the incorporation of piezo-electric layers – so-called Piezo-MEMS - will be the focus of this training.

For industrial applications reliability and lifetime of the ink-jet Piezo-MEMS device is of utmost importance. After developing piezo-electric layers for more than 10 years within the IMS-group, we are now in the position that we can focus more on the application in real devices. We therefore intend to investigate reliability and lifetime of the piezoelectric thin films structures under real working conditions, as they are present in the proposed ink jet Piezo-MEMS. This will be the main focus of your work: the design and fabrication of test structures and ultimately complete devices, that allow the evaluation of reliability and lifetime parameters, as well as executing the measurements with these structures and the data analysis. Such structures may in the future also be used to evaluate the quality of piezo-electric layers of external suppliers of Océ, other than IMS.

Using the obtained information you will improve the quality of the piezo-electric layers and devices. To this end you will closely cooperate with the PhD-students in the IMS group, who are studying the fundamentals of ageing of piezo-electric thin films, and with the design engineers of Océ, who have much knowledge about the design of ink-jet MEMS structures.

The PD-Eng will start working alongside the PhD-students making piezo-electric capacitor structures using Pulsed Laser Deposition and clean room technologies available within the Nanolab. You will analyze these using standard electrical and ferroelectric measurements. Then you will proceed more independently (seeking and employing expertise within the Nanolab and MESA+ Institute of nanotechnology at the University of Twente and within Océ) in the fabrication and testing of Piezo-MEMS membrane devices and ultimately of prototype ink-jet Piezo-MEMS chips. Your task is to drive the design, fabrication and analysis of the (prototype) devices. The project will be concluded with a report on the optimization procedure of the designs, the results and conclusions of the data analysis.

The questions for this assignment are (among others):

1. How to define and fabricate (simple to make) test structures that allow the determination of reliability and lifetime properties of piezo-electric thin films under the working conditions as are applicable in ink-jet Piezo-MEMS devices.
2. Can you extract from such measurements easy to determine quality criteria for thin films ?
3. What are the critical factors in the design of the Piezo-MEMS device and especially in the choice of materials and fabrication route of the piezo-electric layer ?

The exact planning and implementation will be established in further discussion.

We are searching for good, if not the best MSc graduated candidates (or graduates with several years of experience) in the field of (applied) physics, chemistry, (micro-)electronics, mechanics or similar field, preferably with affinity for design and analysis of multi-physics systems (mechanicals, thermal, electronical, materials, measurements). You must have the ambition and talent to combine fundamental physics/materials knowledge (your own and supplied by your colleagues) with practical skills to find solutions and create designs. Important professional skills are English language proficiency, communication and interpersonal skills, teamwork, initiative and self‐reflection.

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).

Please send your letter of motivation, with a curriculum vitae, a list with grades of courses attended, references and, if applicable, a list of publications before June 17, 2018, through the link below.

If you have any further questions about this vacancy, please contact Prof.dr.ir.G. Koster (g.koster@utwente.nl) or Dr. E.P.Houwman: (e.p.houwman@utwente.nl)

General information about PDEng programmes you can find at our website.

You will be offered a contract for 24 months. During these two years you follow a tailor made post-master programme with a combination of education and lab-training at the University of Twente and working both in the measurement labs of IMS, the Nanolab cleanroom facilities of the UT and in the R&D lab of Océ in Venlo. You will work together with PhD-students in IMS, studying the fundamental physics questions of reliability and fatigue and the design engineers at Océ. During these two years you will be supervised by a team of experts from both Océ and the University of Twente. The salary will be € 1.828 gross per month. Additionally, the University of Twente provides excellent facilities for professional and personal development, a holiday allowance and an end-of-year bonus.

On successful completion of the programme, you will receive a certified degree. You will be entitled to use the academic degree Professional Doctorate in Engineering (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.

Within the TNW Faculty (Faculty of Science & Technology) of the University of Twente some 700 staff members and 2000 students are involved in training and research on the interface of chemical technology, applied physics and biomedical technology. Fields of application include sustainable energy, process technology and materials science, nanotechnology and technical medicine. Research, which enjoys a high profile both at home and internationally, has been accommodated in the multidisciplinary research institutes MESA+ and MIRA. The faculty works together intensively with industrial partners and researchers in the Netherlands and abroad and conducts extensive research for external commissioning parties and funders.