Maintenance is an essential part of daily life. This is reflected in the economic importance that maintenance has: € 400 billion of invested capital, an annual cost of € 18 billion and more than 150,000 workplaces (in the Netherlands).
In practice, maintenance is often carried out based on empirical approaches and experiences from the past. As a result, maintenance is a static process, which currently heavily relies on empirical data. Therefore, a leap forward in terms of efficiency and effectiveness must be made. This requires the right awareness among both the designer of the system as well the designer of the maintenance process regarding the physical principles behind the necessity of doing maintenance.
EngD programme in Maintenance
The EngD programme Maintenance educates technological designers who are capable to design efficient and effective maintenance processes from a multidisciplinary perspective. For a design to comply with an integral maintenance-aware solution, technical, financial, logistics and organisational specifications need to be set and fulfilled.
A major challenge in this comes from the fact that maintenance is a dynamic process, where the process should continuously be adjusted based on changes in the system and its environment. In this, a sound understanding of the physical mechanisms is key, as the basis for failing systems and components is in nature physical. To be able to predict the performance of a design in highly dynamic (undefined) situations requires a theoretical (based) approach.
Currently, there is a large gap in the maintenance approach between technical specialists and operations managers, originating from different perspectives on maintenance. By addressing both technical and operations aspects during the EngD programme, a necessary, clear (however missing) link is established between these two fields of expertise.
Examples of design issues include:
- The redesign of the texturing process in steel mills. Currently, this is done using a texture on the rollers. However, this texture is subjected to very harsh conditions and is thus facing high wear rates. This results in an unwanted evolution of the imprinted textures. Using, for example, a contactless method can solve this issue; currently, the possibility to use laser texturing is being investigated. (Tata Steel)
- Decision tool for determination of failure mechanism. One of the biggest issues in designing maintenance policies is the fact that historical data is needed. The more accurate this data is, the more reliable the models will be. However, in practice, the number of failure modes of the different systems is almost infinite. In contrast, the number of basic failure mechanisms causing the failure is very limited. Typically the engineer responsible for the repair in the field is not very motivated to write a detailed report about the underlying mechanism of a failure or is not trained to recognize the different failure mechanisms. Therefore, a predefined failure chart, which is linked to the physical failure mechanisms, will significantly improve the quality of failure reports from the field. (Wold Class Maintenance ( Sabic, Sitech, Nedtrain, etc.))
Courses
The EngD programme in Maintenance is a two-year post-master programme that consists of three blocks: a block of professional development, a block with in-depth and broadening courses and the technological design project. These blocks with a total of 120 EC can run parallel to each other.
The block with in-depth and broadening courses can partly be tailored to the technological design project. Gained skills in professional development and gained knowledge from in-depth and broadening courses are employed in the design project. During the design project, you transfer results into technological innovation in industry or society.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Professional Development courses are intended to improve professional skills and advance career opportunities. Besides, the University of Twente actively stimulates the entrepreneurial spirit of its employees. The courses in Professional Effectiveness and the TGS Introduction Workshop (including Scientific Integrity) are compulsory, and others are elective (in consultation with your supervisors). See www.utwente.nl/ctd for an overview of professional development courses.
IN-DEPTH AND BROADENING COURSES
This education block carries a total study load of at least 45 EC and comprises a compulsory block and an elective block.
Compulsory courses
The compulsory block includes three courses:
Two courses can be chosen from a set of four courses: Failure Mechanisms and Life Prediction, Structural Health and Condition Monitoring, Design for Maintenance, and Maintenance Strategies and Engineering.
Some compulsory courses are Master courses that need to be accompanied by assignments, specific to the EngD trainee. The compulsory courses will always be at a post-master level.
Elective courses
The elective block of at least 18 EC allows you to extend your competencies in a specific direction as further preparation for the design project. For the composition of this elective block, together with your (daily) supervisors, you can select courses which are of interest for the technological design project. Elective courses can either be master courses or post-master courses at the University of Twente, national research schools, Capita Selecta courses, conference visits (incl. paper and/or poster), summer schools, in-company courses, or courses at another 4TU location.
DESIGN PROJECT
The design project will be defined in close consultation with the organisation or institution which you will be working for. The project can arise from a design question from the organisation/institution or from the valorisation of PhD research into which the industry/government has an inquiry to. The programme ensures that the design project is innovative and complex, contains sufficient design aspects and is sufficiently multidisciplinary. The design project is individual in the sense that you have your project. Because of the complex and multidisciplinary character of the project, in most projects, you will work together with colleagues. The University of Twente ensures that there is a clear part of the design, for which you are responsible and for which you will be judged.
Target group
The EngD-programme in Maintenance focuses on these target groups:
- Talented graduates of a Master of Science in the field of Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design Engineering, Industrial Engineering & Management, Applied Physics or a related specialisation (both national and international) who are interested in designing solutions for complex issues in the field of maintenance engineering;
- Graduates working at an organization have the ambition to get out the most of their career. You should hold a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Design Engineering, Industrial Engineering & Management, Applied Physics or related specialization.
The EngD programme focuses on talented graduates with an interest in designing solutions for complex technological maintenance problems. This means that not everyone will be allowed and that the selection for this track will be strict.
Selection criteria
Candidates will be tested based on these selection criteria:
- CV candidate, with special attention to results MSc; other diplomas, courses; and years and type of work experience (if applicable)
- Motivation candidate, with a special focus on demonstrable affinity with design and multidisciplinary assignments
- Professional skills, such as English language skills, communication and interpersonal skills, teamwork, initiative and self-reflection
- Letter(s) of recommendation to senior / graduate professor
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).
The selection will be done by the EngD-selection committee.
Interested?
If you are interested in this EngD track Maintenance, read more about how to apply.
Testimonials
Contact
If you have any further questions about the EngD programme in Maintenance, please contact programme director Prof.dr.ir. M.B. (Matthijn) de Rooij:
- E-mail: mt-engd@utwente.nl
- Telephone: +3153 489 1178