EngD Position: Developing an Urban Mining design & matchmaking methodology

Renovating existing constructions in a circular manner challenges the industry to revisit their conventional design and demolition practices. New possibilities emerge when treating the existing built environment as an urban mine from which valuable materials can be ‘mined’ or ‘harvested’ for future reuse. Using such materials essentially flips the design process. Designers will need to base their design ideas and proposals on the characteristics of any reusable materials including their dimensions, connection types and other properties. Finding new matches for existing materials is further complicated as the materials from (selective) demolition projects may not become available at the right time or location. The challenge of this Engineering Doctorate project is, therefore, to make sense of these complexities by developing an urban mining design & matchmaking methodology.

The envisioned methodology integrates both managerial and engineering solutions to foster the uptake of reuse. You will follow a design science research methodology to iteratively: identify information gaps between demolition and design firms, develop a simple parametric matchmaking tool, evaluate it within selected case-studies and communicate urban mining guidelines. The outcome supports both demolition and design firms in boosting the uptake of reuse.

This two-year EngD project is part of the NWO funded PACER project that contributes to circular and emission-free renovation with new forms of collaboration, digitisation and integration. You will be supervised by a team consisting of dr.ir. Marc van den Berg (UT), dr. Hans Voordijk (UT), dr. Andreas Hartmann (UT) and dr. Torsten Schröder (TU Eindhoven). Becoming part of a wider research consortium, you will also get the opportunity to collaborate with other researchers from (among others) TU Eindhoven and Utrecht University. The project can start as soon as possible.

Requirements:

We invite you to apply when fulfilling the following conditions:

• You are one of the best Master graduates with a background in construction, management and/or engineering;
• You have the ambition to accelerate in finding actionable solutions for complex technological issues with a multidisciplinary character;
• Your professional English proficiency is high and you understand Dutch (or are willing to learn);
• You like to spend time in professional organisations involved in the PACER project;
• You have strong communication and social skills;
• You can collaborate in teams and take initiative to develop solutions;
• You are interested in, or experienced with, parametric modelling and circular design approaches.

Salary Benefits:

• Contract for a two-year Engineering Doctorate (EngD) position; • A salary of €2.872 gross per month;
• An annual holiday allowance of 8% of the gross annual salary, and an annual year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• Minimum of 29 holidays per year in case of fulltime employment;
• Tailor-made educational/development program of at least 6 months (30 EC), including visits to conferences;
• Full status as an employee at the UT, including pension and health care benefits;
• A work environment on a green and lively campus with sports and leisure facilities;
• Mentorship that supports your professional and personal growth.

On successfully completing the program, you will receive a certified and recognised degree. You will be entitled to use the academic title of Engineering Doctorate (EngD). You will be registered as a Technological Designer in the Dutch register kept by the Royal Institution of Engineers in the Netherlands (KIVI).

38 hours per week

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