Research at Engineering Technology
The Faculty is organised in departments, clusters of principal investigators who together create mass and focus within research and education. The Faculty of Engineering Technology has five departments, and together are responsible for the corresponding research and education in the BSc, MSc, EngD and PhD programmes. Each department has multiple research chairs; sometimes, 2 or more research chairs are part of a research group.
Biomechanical Engineering (BE)
The BE department integrates the tools of several engineering disciplines to analyse aspects of human functioning. The research covers the special mechanical properties of living biological tissue and the dynamics of the human system and applies this knowledge to the development of instruments, devices, and methodologies to support how individuals function in daily life. Examples of medical devices are rehabilitation robotics for the lower and upper extremities, diagnostic robots for (impaired) motor control, surgical robotics, artificial organs and organ support systems, endo- and exo-prostheses, and wearable exoskeletons. The effectiveness of these devices is tested with clinical and industrial partners. The research’s medical application areas are rehabilitation, orthopaedics, neurology, intensive care, neonatology, and cardiovascular surgery.
Daily Management Team
Research chairs:
- Biomechanical Implants (Prof.dr.ir. N.J.J. Verdonschot)
- Biomechatronics and Rehabilitation Technology (Prof.dr.ir. H. van der Kooij)
- Biomedical Device Design and Production Technology (Prof.dr.ir. G.J.M. Tuijthof)
- Engineering Organ Support Technologies (Prof.Dr.-Ing. J. Arens)
- Neuromuscular Robotics (Prof.dr.ir. M. Sartori)
- Rehabilitation Medicine and Technology (Prof.dr. J.S. Rietman)
- Surgical Robotics (Prof.dr. S. Misra)
Related research institute: TechMed Centre
Civil Engineering and Management (CEM)
Research in the CEM department aims at acquiring qualitative and quantitative knowledge on the lifecycle of civil-engineering systems and objects, with a particular focus on the initiative phase, the phase of conceptual or functional design, and the operation and maintenance phase, all in a societal and environmental context. Research concentrates on construction management and engineering (e.g. planning, development, procurement systems and construction engineering), transport studies (e.g. engineering, management and interaction of transport systems) and water engineering and management (physics of marine and fluvial systems and integrated water management).
Daily Management Team:
Research chairs:
- Climate Change impacts of Coastal Risks (Prof.dr. R. Ranasinghe)
- Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Systems (Prof. dr. ir. J. Vinke-de Kruijf)
- Coastal Systems and Nature-Based Engineering (prof.dr. K.M. Wijnberg)
- Digital Construction Process Integration (Prof.dr.ir. A.M. Adriaanse)
- Integrated Project Delivery (Prof.dr.ir. L. Volker)
- Market Dynamics (Prof.dr.ir. A.G. Dorée)
- Modelling Water Management and Climate (Prof.dr. J. Kwadijk)
- Multidisciplinary Water Management: (Prof.dr.ing. M. Berger)
- Safety Aspects of Energy Transition in the Built Environment (Prof. dr. ir. N. Rosmuller)
- Soil MicroMechanics (prof. dr. V. Magnamino)
- Transport Engineering and Management (Prof.dr.ir. E.C. van Berkum)
- Transport Planning (Prof.dr.ing. K.T. Geurs)
- Water Systems (Prof.dr. S.J.M.H. Hulscher)
Related research institutes: Digital Society Institute
Design, Production and Management (DPM)
The DPM department focuses its research on the understanding and improvement of design processes (and consequently also manufacturing processes). Focal points in this research field are the development of methods and tools for scenario-based, user-oriented product design against the background of the requirements and constraints of the entire product lifecycle, and manufacturing facility and warehousing design. ‘Integration’ and ‘synthesis’ are important topics for design engineering research, with a focus on understanding and improving the design process irrespective of the product.
Daily Management Team:
Research chairs:
- Aerospace Maintenance Technology and Management (Prof. dr. A. de Jong)
- Asset Management & Maintenance Engineering (Prof. dr. A. J. J. Braaksma)
- Advanced Manufacturing & Sustainable Products & Energy Systems (Prof.dr. I. Gibson)
- Human Centred Design (Prof.dr.ir. M.C. van der Voort)
- Information driven Product Development & Engineering (Prof.dr.ir. D. Lutters)
- Interaction Design (Prof.dr.ir. G.D.S. Ludden)
- Intergrated Life-cycle Management (Prof.dr. M.W. Groll)
- Manufacturing Systems (Prof.dr.ing. S. Thiede)
- Packaging Design and Management (Prof.dr.ir. R. ten Klooster)
- Product-Market Relations (Prof.dr.ir. J. Henseler)
- Systems Engineering & Multidisciplinary Design (Prof. dr.ir. G.M. Bonnema)
Mechanics of Solids, Surfaces and Systems (MS3)
The research aim of the MS3 department is to develop the technology for future manufacturing processes and new products through a science-based engineering approach focused on material behaviour, system behaviour and robust optimisation, or the interplay between these aspects. The manufacturing of new products and/or developing new processes requires a profound scientific understanding of (functional) materials (e.g. elastomers, polymers, composites, metals, biomaterials) and their interactions throughout the complete lifecycle: during design, production, use and after service life.
Daily Management Team:
Research chairs:
- Control and Mechatronics (CaM) (Prof. dr. ing. W. B. J. Hakvoort)
- Dynamics Based Maintenance (DBM) (Prof.dr.ir. T. Tinga)
- Elastomer Technology and Engineering (ETE) (Prof.dr. A. Blume)
- Laser Processing (LP) (Prof.dr.ir. G.R.B.E. Römer)
- Mechanics of Polymeric Materials (MPM) (Prof. dr. ir. L. E. Govaert)
- Nonlinear Solid Mechanics (NSM) (Prof.dr.ir. A.H. van den Boogaard)
- Precision Engineering (PE) (Prof.dr.ir. D.M. Brouwer EngD)
- Production Technology (PT) (Prof.dr.ir. R. Akkerman)
- Skin Tribology (Prof.dr.ir. E. van der Heide)
- Surface Technology and Tribology (STT) (Prof.dr.ir. M.B. de Rooij)
- Tribology Based Maintenance (TBM) (Prof.dr.ir. P.M. Lugt)
Thermal and Fluid Engineering (TFE)
The TFE department performs research in theoretical, numerical and experimental fluid dynamics, granular materials and thermal engineering, driven by applications in fields such as power generation and fuel transition , aeronautical engineering, thermal conversion and storage, engineering of medical applications and prediction and analysis of industrial processes. The Department excels in the following areas of expertise: experimental techniques, the design and implementation of numerical methods, and the development and characterization of functional materials.
Daily Management Team:
Research chairs:
- Engineering Fluid Dynamics (Prof.dr.ir. C.H. Venner)
- Fluid Mechanics and Functional Materials (Prof. dr. ir. C. W. Visser)
- Multi Scale Mechanics (Prof.dr. rer.-nat. S. Luding)
- Thermal Conversion and Storage (Prof. dr. M. Shahi)
- Thermal Engineering (Prof.dr.ir. A. K. Pozarlik)
Related research institute: MESA+