EngD position: Inspection and Maintenance Methodologies for Rail Defects

The Challenge

Maintenance of railway assets is if vital importance to ensure safe and cost effective operation. This is in particular valid for intensively used railway networks such as those in The Netherlands. Intensive use increases wear and hence the need for maintenance, while at the same time, it limits the available time for maintenance operations, or inevitably causes disruptions of the normal operation that should be kept to a minimum. Various inspection techniques are applied, ranging from manual inspections to Eddy current and ultrasound based inspections and various maintenance techniques (grinding, milling, replacement) are available.

The main scientific challenge in this project is that a thorough understanding of the different inspection techniques as well as the possible maintenance techniques is required to align both and realize the right conditions to implement them in a maintenance planning system. Lacking experience with these methods in field applications is contributing to the challenge. In addition, it is unknown what the effects are of changes in type of maintenance intervention (grinding, milling, replacement) in the long run. Finally the insight in conditions under which an optimized maintenance intervention strategy, including the question which inspection technology to use when, can be obtained is limited. These are fundamental challenges.

Your role:

• Participate in cutting-edge research and design under the guidance of leading experts in the field.
• Evaluate inspections systems: evaluate and assess the accuracy and reliability of both train-borne and manual inspection systems.
• Analyse maintenance processes: review and analyze current procedures for defect assessment and investigate the opportunities of modern corrective maintenance techniques.
• Develop a Defect Management Framework: categorization of defects and support for decision making of maintenance interventions based on the defect categorization.
• Evaluate the designed framework and propose updates to RLN00399: provide recommendations for updating the RLN00399 guideline and ensure the frameworks supports updates of the guideline reflecting the integration of advanced inspection technologies and modern maintenance practices.
• Collaborate with an interdisciplinary team, including members from the University of Twente and the industrial partner ProRail.
• Actively engage in field inspections to gain necessary insights in the daily practice of inspection and maintenance interventions.
• Work regularly at the ProRail office in Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Postdoctoral researcher EU-Concerto project

Are you ready to join our team and together improve our understanding of terrestrial ecosystem carbon uptake on Earth?

The Earth has become greener as a result of increasing carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere, and the carbon uptake by the vegetation has also increased. Will that process continue, how does vegetation adapt to climate, and what is the role of disturbances such as fires, floods and droughts? And how can we best use satellite data in combination with Earth system models? In the CONCERTO project we work with scientists from institutes in Europe to answer these questions. The University of Twente focuses on the use and interpretation of satellite data, with emphasis on the upcoming FLEX satellite mission.

As researcher in our team, you will have three main tasks in this project, each in collaboration with other institutes. The first is to help improve long-term global land cover maps with satellite data. The second one is to support Earth system modellers with tools to use satellite data of solar induced fluorescence (SIF) and other satellite data, by using and improving radiative transfer models. The third task is to develop theoretical knowledge about the response of photosynthesis to weather, climate and disturbances, using satellite data, the p-model developed at the Imperial College London and the model SCOPE developed at the University of Twente.

In short, this position provides an outstanding chance to work with satellite data and collaborate with European research scientists who work on quantifying ecosystem dynamics and climate projections.

PhD position in Stochastic Operations Research - Optimisation of cross-border patient flows and healthcare capacities

Several mathematical models will be developed in the work package "Intelligent control of patient flows and capacities" of the CARE-FLOW project. The first two models optimize patient flows and capacities for hospitals and follow-up care organizations in Germany and the Netherlands on an individual basis, given internal demand forecasts. The third model will optimize the control and planning in the cross-border region, considering the exchange of demand forecasts between the different healthcare providers. The models will be implemented prototypically in software products to later be used by relevant decision-makers. You will work closely with the key stakeholders in the project and with Dr. Anne Zander, Dr. Daniela Guericke and Prof. Dr. Richard Boucherie.

This position is embedded in the project CARE-FLOW. The project's objective is to develop and evaluate algorithms for the healthcare sector and improve the management of patient flows and capacities in the cross-border region to ensure access to and efficiency of healthcare, considering emergency medical services, hospitals, and follow-up care institutions. The consortium comprises universities, specialized private companies, and healthcare providers from both sides of the border.

Your project will be embedded in the inter-faculty research team, CHOIR (Centre for Healthcare Operations Improvement and Research). CHOIR is a research center within the UT that focuses on Operations Research methods for Healthcare Logistics, such as multi-appointment scheduling, surgery scheduling, and resource allocation in times of scarce healthcare capacity. CHOIR is one of the most active and productive research groups in the field of Operations Research and Management in Healthcare. More information about the CHOIR here.

PhD position in cross-border ambulance positioning

This position is embedded in the project CARE-FLOW. Its objective is to develop and evaluate algorithms for the healthcare sector and to improve the management of patient flows and capacities in a Dutch/German border region to ensure access to and efficiency of healthcare. Two distinct algorithms/mathematical models will be developed within the working package “Cross-border positioning of ambulances”. The first one optimizes ambulance positioning in Germany and the Netherlands based on demand forecasts linking incident locations with hospitals in the region. Planning is enhanced through real-time repositioning and predicting peak demands. The second algorithm/model analyzes cross-border collaboration, determining optimal ambulance positioning and conditions for collaboration. It evaluates whether collaboration is always beneficial or only under specific conditions. Both algorithms/models are intended for implementation into software products to be used by relevant decision-makers. You will work closely with key stakeholders of the project. The project's consortium comprises universities, specialised private companies, and healthcare providers from both sides of the border.

Job description
You will join the CARE-FLOW team in a cross-border setting, applying and improving models to forecast demand and capacity, as well as to decide on how to position ambulances. You will formulate, define and carry out relevant tasks which include the development, monitoring and testing of algorithms, statistical and mathematical models as well as the delegation of tasks to scientific assistants where necessary. The candidate supports the prototype implementation and scientifically sound evaluation and analysis of the results in the downstream work packages. Beyond these two intended outcomes, the project leaves much room to explore additional topics within the broad theme of the CARE-FLOW project.

The supervisory team consists of Dr. Sebastian Rachuba, Dr. Derya Demirtas and Prof. Dr. Erwin Hans and the candidate will be integrated into CHOIR (Center for Healthcare Operations Improvement and Research), an internationally renowned research group at the University of Twente, committed to improving healthcare services.

PhD position on Development of diagnostic AI tools to change from analysis to synthesis for EMC

The Radio Systems Group within the Department of Electrical Engineering has a vacancy for a PhD researcher to work in the EU Horizon Europe Marie Sklodowska-Curie Project PATTERN - European Doctoral Network Enabling Artificial Intelligence for Electromagnetic Compatibility. This research is linked to (DC 14 - Doctoral Candidate) the Development of diagnostic AI tools to change from (post-design) analysis to (pre-design) synthesis for EMC.

The unwanted emission or unwanted susceptibility of complex systems is always caused by aspects which are “forgotten” in the design. This is also the reason why even fantastic extremely difficult simulations fail to model accurately the EMI propagation in products. This DC will first ensure the data validity used for modelling EMI propagation at a system level. S/he will consider “forgotten” parameters from Expert Systems made exceptionally available by the industry, containing field diagnostic and accumulated precious (unpublished) knowledge from senior (EMC) experts.

Click the following link to find out more about the recruitment process or details of the position.