TECHNICUS KERAMISCHE VORMGEVING VAN GESTRUCTUREERDE MATERIALEN
Mol
Lab & Technicians
Description:
Je maakt deel uit van het team keramische materialen en poedermetallurgie (KMP) binnen VITO’s unit Duurzaam Materialenbeheer. Het KMP-team ontwikkelt innovatieve poreuze en functionele structuren voor toepassingen in onder meer de chemische industrie.
Als technisch operator sta je in voor het vormgeven van keramische structuren, voor een industriële klant. Daarbij zorg je voor de suspensie aanmaak, het vormgeven van de structuur, het afstellen, optimaliseren en onderhouden van de installaties, kwaliteitscontrole, etc.
Je technische kennis en inzicht stellen je na een inwerkperiode in staat om zelfstandig de opdrachten uit te voeren.
Je waakt over de vereisten op gebied van milieu, veiligheid en kwaliteit.
TECHNICAL TEAM COORDINATOR ELECTRIC ENERGY AND STORAGE SYSTEMS
Genk
R&D & Engineering
Description:
EnergyVille is a collaboration between the Flemish research partners KU Leuven, VITO, Imec and UHasselt for research into sustainable energy and intelligent energy systems. Our researchers provide expertise to industry and governments in the field of intelligent energy systems for a sustainable urban environment, such as smartgrids and advanced heating networks. The next few years will be characterised by the electrification of heating, transport and industrial equipment, as well as further improvements in the energy efficiency of a range of systems, a further increase in the number of renewable energy sources and changing behavioural patterns among consumers. These developments will give rise to a number of technical challenges bringing with them an exponential increase in the application of power electronics. In order to tackle these challenges, innovative concepts must be developed that simplify and/or facilitate the use and integration of electrical storage systems. These concepts must be tested in realistic conditions. Innovative solutions are also needed with regard to the electricity grid. We are currently seeking a TEAM COORDINATOR ELECTRICAL ENERGY AND STORAGE SYSTEMS
You will provide technical and creative leadership in a flexible and efficient team.
You will carry out research projects in the field of electrical networks and electrical storage of energy with your team.
You will publish your research in international peer-reviewed journals, whether or not in collaboration with PhD students. You will present your research findings at international forums.
You will be responsible for the daily schedule, building up the necessary competences within the team in the longer term and content-related coaching in according with the Program Manager.
You will follow the trends within your field of research and help determine the strategic direction.
You will be responsible for acquiring new research projects and writing research proposals.
R&D RECYCLING AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
Mol
R&D & Engineering
Description:
VITO has clear ambitions to further strengthen its research program ‘Sustainable Materials Management’. We strive towards a more circular economy by developing zero-waste solutions to sustainably transform residues into resources and products. One of our core research activities is the development of innovative processes to develop sustainable construction materials (SCMs, fine sand, aggregates,….) from industrial residues (slags, ashes, sludges….). In our vision, it is key to find safe and added-value applications for the voluminous matrix that remains after the extraction of valuable metals and/or minerals from industrial residues. Applications as cement, fine and coarse aggregate of both high technical and environmental quality offer at the same time a stable and large volume market and bring added value to mineral waste streams, instead of landfilling these.
We are looking for an experienced researcher to strengthen this visionary research track. As a researcher, you will explore the relationships between the raw material properties, the processing steps and the technical/environmental quality of the construction materials in relation to construction applications. As an example, the activation of sludges (calcination) to produce supplementary cementitious materials and the granulation of processed tailings to produce fine sand or aggregates will be studied.
You are responsible for the acquisition, the execution and the coordination of applied scientific research projects. As a VITO expert in this field, you present results at (inter)national for a and you publish them in peer reviewed journals. You can rely on a strong network of relevant partners and you are eager to find opportunities for setting up concrete (demo) projects with industrial partners.
As a laboratory assistant/technician, you will be part of the waste and recycling technologies (ART) team, which develops innovative processes for upgrading mineral waste to new materials and high-quality products.
Within the framework of projects for the recycling and material industry, you will be responsible for carrying out experiments in our laboratories. In doing so, you will apply a range of laboratory techniques, such as sample preparation, physical and chemical separation techniques and the creation/testing of new building materials. Examples include magnetic separation, density separation, mixing and granulating various powders, manufacturing concrete test pieces, concrete testing, quality testing of construction materials, etc.
You will work on behalf of the researchers and in close collaboration with your fellow laboratory assistants.
You will ensure that requirements in the field of quality, safety and the environment are met and will be able to translate the technical tasks into QSE procedures.
After an induction period, your drive, technical knowledge and insight will enable you to carry out the tasks independently.
VITO is a leading European independent research and consultancy centre in the areas of cleantech and sustainable development. Its research programme ‘Sustainable Materials Management’ has the ambition to accelerate the transition to a more circular economy from a materials perspective. One of our core research activities is the development of technologies for shaping powders into added value products for use in different industrial applications, like separation and recovery of valuable materials, advanced catalyst materials and energy storage.
Chromatography is the most widely used separation technique in chemical (research) laboratories and is commonly used in the chemical process industry. We aim to further develop innovative applications in this area, in close collaboration with industrial companies and other research institutes. As a post-doctoral fellow you will take an important role in the development of this rapidly evolving research track.
A key component of a chromatography set-up is the chromatography resin or stationary phase that consists typically of functionalized micro particles. Performance of the stationary phase is among other determined by both the porous architecture and the surface chemistry.
In our two year post-doctoral research project we will focus on the development of novel material concepts for chromatography, using innovative shaping methods and compatible surface modification technologies.
VITO has unique expertise in 3D-printing of ceramics and microsphere production. Both technologies will be used to develop specific porous architectures that allow uniform flow, increased surface area and lower pressure drop of the stationary phase .
In addition surface modification treatment will be tuned to optimize the surface chemistry of the novel stationary phase.
VITO is a leading European independent research and consultancy centre in the areas of cleantech and sustainable development. Its research programme ‘Sustainable Materials Management’ has the ambition to accelerate the transition to a more circular economy from am aterials perspective. One of our core research activities is the development of technologies for shaping materials into added value products for use in different industrial applications, like separation and recovery of valuable materials, advanced catalyst materials and energy storage.
Sol-gel chemistry covers the synthesis of materials (eg metal oxides) from solution-state precursors. This enables a variety in structure and composition of the solid product. Recent trends indicate an increase in the use of sol-gel chemistry for the development of nanoscale powders to be used as catalyst materials or supports functionalised separation beads. As a post-doctoral research fellow you will take an important role in the development of this rapidly evolving research track.
VITO has unique expertise in the shaping of powders using 3D-printing and microsphere production.
In this 2 year post-doctoral research project we aim to further develop specific sol-gel synthesis routes for metal oxides to be implemented in these innovative shaping technologies.
More specifically the chemistry of the sol-gel reaction will be tuned to optimize the kinetics towards our droplet coagulation or micro-reactor process. The aim is to control the architecture and composition of the microsphere;
Also novel sol-gel strategies for the solidification of the precursors during the 3D-printing process will be investigated;
An important aspect during this project is taking into account the scale-up of the process to relevant quantities for further testing in the various application under investigation.
We are looking for an excellent researcher with affinity for consultancy to reinforce the energy market team. You will be involved in several projects as the expert on the energy market design modelling. The markets in scope cover electricity markets: from electricity day-ahead markets to the reserve markets, and also gas markets and heat trade. You will model the markets in python and julia as optimisation problems, and also as games capturing market participant behaviour. You will be based in VITO/EnergyVille in Thor Park Genk.
As Expert Energy market modelling, you will
Work within the energy market team on several different projects.
Research new concepts for energy markets and products, and create new insights on innovative market design for all the involved stakeholders in the energy landscape.
Write and analyse mathematical formulation of different (multi-carrier) energy market designs. The mathematical formulation could include modelling behaviour of market participants.
Implement and solve the market design in python/Julia.
Provide policy and strategy advise based on your research findings to the relevant stakeholders.
Participate in writing (parts of) project proposals and offers to tenders.
Manage defined tasks related to your area of expertise.
R&D PROFESSIONAL PROCESS INTENSIFICATION VIA MEMBRANE APPLICATIONS
Antwerpen
R&D & Engineering
Description:
The team GCT (Green Chemistry Technology) focusses on the development and making economically viable of new technologies for a more sustainable chemistry. In this there is a strong focus on the optimization of downstream separation processes and on process intensification via the in-situ connection between separation processes with various (bio)chemical conversion processes. Membranes and membrane processes are of great value in this, because of their broad application area, their low energy consumption, and their usefulness in continuous chemical processes on every scale. Examples are the recent development of a membrane-assisted process specific suited for the efficient execution of chemical reactions in high dilutions and the development of functionalized ceramic membranes for separations of f.e. lignin-derived molecules based on affinity instead of magnitude. New developments are strongly directed by the industrial need.
You are responsible for the execution and follow-up of projects in the domain of membrane technology, more specific on membrane modification technology on ceramic membranes.
You guide membrane tests in the context of process intensification and you also help to conduct them, mainly for the process industry.
The Unit of Separation and Conversion Technology (SCT, Flemish Institute for Technological Research, VITO) develops technologies for the sustainability of production processes in the (bio)chemical sector, replacement of fossil resources by renewable feedstocks for the chemical industry and the treatment of waste streams into high value chemicals. A strategic research theme is focusing on the use of wood/lignin as an alternative feedstock for the production of biobased aromatics. Due to its aromatic nature, lignin is considered as a valuable alternative for the production of aromatic bio-based molecules. Various phenol derivatives with a variety of chemical structures can be produced by cleaving the lignin structure.
In this respect, VITO is co-initiator of Biorizon, an industry driven Shared Research Center, focusing on technology development for the production of functionalized, biobased aromatics for performance materials, chemicals & coatings. As the leading institute, VITO coordinates the development of lignin derived bio-aromatics by its own technology and by collaboration with different technology providers.
More information available on www.vito.be and www.biorizon.eu
Up to now, VITO has developed strong expertise in the valorization of biomass through conversion of lignocellulose into value-added lignin fragments and bio-aromatic derivatives. These new lignin-derived building blocks are consequently evaluated for their application potential as polymer building blocks or functional additives. However, it turned that the obtained lignin fractions are not always meeting the required specifications towards the targeted application and that additional purification/fractionation of the lignin derivatives is required.
We are looking for a PhD graduate for 2 (or 3) years postdoctoral research to work within our bioaromatics team with a focus on the development of a decision tree to be able to select the most appropriate train of separation/fractionation/purification steps using various downstream processing techniques.
This position fits within a national collaborative project with a strong industrial consortium. This research project will involve aspects of characterization of the various lignin sources, tailoring of the lignin sources towards the required specifications via both separation/purification/fractionation and chemical modification and evaluation in polymer formulations.
FUNCTION
The following tasks/actions are foreseen in our project to be conducted by the candidate, focusing on the development of a generic decision tree for separation/fractionation/purification of lignin sources towards the required specifications (both via modelling and experimental work)
Active literature survey, keeping up to date with relevant articles and patents in the fields
Detailing out the work protocol after discussion with the experts involved
Execution of the work in laboratory
Data interpretation and plan for next possible steps: in discussion with experts
Execution of the experiments/tasks in a timely and efficient manner according to the overall project planning
Preparing presentations for the meetings/reports.
Scientific output and/or patent submission as a result of the work would be highly recommended
Ensure compliance with VITO’s Health & Safety Policy, and take a proactive approach to ensure all experimental work is safe
As a researcher, you will contribute to the Flemish, European and international environmental policy relating to air quality.
You develop models that simulate and predict the presence of pollutants in the atmosphere. These models will be used to support the environmental policy of Flemish and foreign authorities and the industry. Urban air quality is a focus area of the team.
You are responsible for analysing model results and reporting to the client or the end user. Processing of (large) data sets therefore plays an important role.
You integrate your knowledge and expertise in collaborative projects with your fellow researchers, report the results of these and publish them in academic journals.
PHD POSTION DEVELOPING IN-SILICO TOOLS TO DESCRIBE AND PREDICT AFFINITY SEPARATION OF MOLECULES ON FunMenTM CERAMIC MEMBRANES
Internationaal
PhD
Description:
As up to 90% of chemical production processes contain a separation procedure, these separations account for 40 to 70% of the global capital and operational costs incurred by the process industry. There exists a clear need for the development of cost efficient separation techniques. Intensifying chemical/biochemical separation processes will have a huge impact on cost and energy savings leading ultimately to greener manufacturing.
Recently Vito and UAntwerpen developed a new ceramic functionalization methodology, FunMemTM, that can be applied to metal oxide based ceramic membranes known for their excellent structural, thermal, physical and chemical stability explaining their broad organic solvent stability. The innovative Grignard grafting method of VITO/UA provides a stable hybrid organic-inorganic material, and allows a broad range of functionalities next to hydrophobisation.
These membranes can lead to affinity-based separations governed by the affinity of the functional groups. Particularly, molecules with very similar size can be separated based on their membrane-molecule affinity difference, and preferential transport (i.e. negative retentions) is observed for molecules with a specifically high solute-membrane affinity in organic solvent nanofiltration.
The cheminformatics team of ICOA, CNRS-Univ Orléans led by Pr. Pascal Bonnet develops and applies in silico tools to understand molecular systems and interactions involved in several areas. The research of ICOA/VITO in this project, will aim at understanding the fine interplay between solute, solvent and surface at the atomistic level by developing modelling tools. Understanding the interaction of organically modified metal oxides with the environment is key to develop predictive models that could be implemented during the design of tailor-made ceramic membranes for specific processes.
The PhD candidate will develop in silico tools to analyse and understand on a molecular basis the flow mechanism of solutes through the functionalized ceramic membrane. By using statistical models and molecular dynamics simulations, the candidate will determine which descriptors and parameters are the most relevant for affinity separation using membrane nanofiltration. Understanding, quantifying and predicting interactions makes a direct contribution to further understand and control the performance of these materials that will be used in membrane-assisted process intensification.
We are looking for a consultant with strong research skills to reinforce the energy market team. As an expert on energy markets and networks, you will be involved in a number of projects with the goal of designing a low carbon energy system. You will be in charge of acquiring new projects and writing proposals. You will be responsible for management of a task within your expertise. Topics include, but are not limited to market design (from futures to day-ahead to real time markets), local energy communities, emerging roles and tasks in the energy sector, business models for integration of flexibility in the electricity networks, and disruptive technologies in the energy sector. In your work, you will often be considering viewpoints of different stakeholders, and take into account technical, economic and regulatory aspects of the problem. You will be based in VITO/EnergyVille in Thor Park Genk.
As an expert on energy markets and networks, you will
Be involved as an expert on several international and national projects.
Identify challenges of different stakeholders in the energy markets.
Propose solutions to overcome the challenges faced by different stakeholders in the energy landscape.
Advise the relevant stakeholders based on your research findings.
Take the lead in writing offers to tenders and project proposals.
Manage tasks and projects related to your area of expertise.
Transfer your knowledge to more junior team members.
SENIOR R&D CONSULTANT ENERGY STRATEGIES AND POLICY
Genk
R&D & Engineering
Description:
As a senior consultant, you will advise policy makers and industry operating at European and international level on the evaluation, development and implementation of their energy and climate related strategies.
Coordinating and delivering integrated assessments on energy & climate policy, based upon collection and analysis of statistics & indicators, summarising and critically evaluating literature, stakeholder interviewing, for example.
You will interpret these results and on this basis, formulate scientific recommendations tailored to the client's needs. You will report the research results to our clients (authorities and industry).
You are responsible for coordinating and conducting consultative assignments within time and budget. You will work in a team, but will also be responsible for carrying out consultative assignments independently.
You will take the lead in writing client offers, research proposals and seeking funding opportunities.
You will continue expanding your knowledge within energy & climate policy domain on the basis of literature, networking, courses and on-the job experience. Within your area of expertise, you will be an active follower of the trends and the studies carried out by other consultants, research institutions and universities.
You will identify routes for new developments, playing an active role in exploring research questions for energy & climate related areas.
The Remote Sensing unit processes petabytes of earth observation data. We primarily specialise in Big Data analysis with the use of machine learning and deep learning techniques in the application workflows. That is our passion: the extraction of information from the vast amounts of incoming images... Information required by our clients. Our extensive group of clients can be found within the domains of land use, civil infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, water management, heritage and ecological development. Visit https://remotesensing.vito.be for more information about our activities.
We are currently seeking a motivated
R&D DATA SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL
As a Data Scientist, you will work within a group of software developers and application engineers. You will move in international circles with clients such as the European Space Agency, the European Commission, federal and regional governments. Our research is often carried out in partnership with foreign research groups and companies.
THE ROLE
You translate user requirements into a system design
You develop back-end systems, web services and APIs
In close collaboration with the application scientists, you design and implement algorithmic components by using Java, Python, R and C++
You collaborate on cluster computing and workflow components
You constantly monitor the benefits and user experience quality for the customer
You manage subcontractors
You report your progress and results to our customers and our management
You will be actively involved in the creation of project proposals
You follow the trends within your field of expertise and use the obtained knowledge in order to build prototypes (data science, machine learning, public cloud, cluster/grid computing, etc.).
PHD POSITION RISK-AWARE QUANTIFICATION AND AGGREGATION TECHNIQES FOR OPTIMAL VALORIZATION OF ENERGY FLEXIBILITY
Genk
PhD
Description:
This PhD will considerably advance the state-of-the-art in optimal valorization and aggregation of energy flexibility by developing, integrating and exploiting novel algorithms for the dynamic quantification of uncertainty and risks regarding energy flexibility.
· In the state-of-the-art of flexibility research, emerging uncertainty is explored and sampled when modelling and optimizing flexibility, but precise definitions and quantifications are lacking.
· This uncertainty will be quantified during this PhD research, using appropriate data science techniques to calculate the risk-of-unexpected-unavailability of the flexibility that was offered earlier, and that take this risk into account when valorizing the energy flexibility in different applications and markets. The result will be that a larger scala of flexibility carriers and types can be valorized.
· The risk factors will be explored and quantified from the points-of-views of the flexibility buyer and the flexibility provider, and applied/adapted to a broad spectrum of energy generating/consuming device types. Ultimately the goals is to provide an approach that can be applied to any type of energy flexibility carriers, including those that cannot be explicitly modelled using a white box or grey box approach
· Novel optimization algorithms will be developed that maximize the reward functions for either and both points-of-view in the context of current and future energy and energy-flexibility markets.
Collaboration with University of Ghent Registration deadline: 3/06/2019
The Remote Sensing unit of VITO processes petabytes of earth observation data. We primarily specialise in Big Data analysis with the use of machine learning and deep learning techniques in the application workflows. That is our passion: the extraction of information from the vast amounts of incoming images. Information required by our clients. Our extensive group of clients can be found within the domains of land use, civil infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, water management, heritage and ecological development. Visit https://remotesensing.vito.be for more information about our activities.
You will join our service-oriented R&D team and contribute to the development of Remote Sensing products & services, mainly in the context of environmental applications.
In close collaboration with the application scientists, you will support the algorithm development but mainly bring existing algorithms into an operational stage and implement them into production workflows by using Python, R and C++.
You collaborate on cluster computing, machine learning and deep learning.
You help translating user requirements into a system design.
You report your progress and results to your colleagues-scientists, our customers, and our management.
The VITO-GOAL laboratory specializes in organic and inorganic analysis. Every year, it processes over 150 projects. The laboratory rarely carries out standard measurements. Most of its work is “made-to-measure”; especially made to fit the client’s demands. Clients often approach the laboratory with a specific problem or question, rather than wanting to know which analysis they would need. Our analytical team proposes a plan of approach and it helps provide solutions. The laboratory has a wide range of technology at its disposal; from simple to highly sophisticated equipment. Our customers are players in various industries: chemistry, food, pharmaceutics. Any complex question can be answered by the VITO-GOAL laboratory. Would you like to contribute to this team? We are looking for a motivated Lab Professional to strengthen our organic analysis team.
You are involved in the realization of various analysis tasks within the organic team. Together with the project leader, you think about the approach of the analysis and you make an estimate of the efforts to be made (time & resources);
The focus is on analysis using GC and LC chromatographic techniques coupled with mainly DAD and MS
You are responsible for the entire analysis process: sample preparation, development and validation of the most suitable measuring method, performing of measurements, quality control, interpreting the raw data obtained and the associated data processing and reporting. You make sure that the analysis are performed within the given deadlines and within the available budgets.
You perform these tasks in collaboration with other GC and LC team members. You report to the project leader.
You will actively contribute to the development process of new methods and to the improvement of applications already existing.
You communicate independently and on time about the progress of the work and about any unforeseen circumstances for which you work out a plan of action into a solution.
The next few years will be characterised by the electrification of heating, transport and industrial equipment, further improvements in the energy efficiency of a range of systems, a further increase in the number of renewable energy sources and changing behaviour patterns among consumers. These developments will give rise to a number of technical challenges, bringing with them an exponential increase in the application of power electronics and placing pressure on the existing parts of the electricity grid. In order to tackle these challenges, innovative concepts must be developed that allow the use and integration of electrical storage systems to be simplified. These concepts must be tested under realistic conditions and the required power electronics, electrical components and sub-systems must also be designed. If you are interested in working with Vito/EnergyVille to set out the course, you could be our new colleague.
In this regard, you will provide technical and creative leadership in a small, flexible and efficient project team.
You are point of contact for the client and you will be responsible for identifying and mapping out the client's challenges and analysing them quickly and appropriately as well as developing, designing, implementing, testing and benchmarking innovative prototypes for power electronics or electrical components and subsystems that will form an essential part of the solution.
You will report on your work both internally and externally to our clients.
You will arrange appropriate protection for your inventions in the form of patent applications and licensable designs. Once protection has been put in place, you will present your findings at international forums.
You will maintain and continue to expand a broad and, at the same time, in-depth knowledge with regard to applications and state-of-the-art components.
You will provide technical coaching to the project team and will act as a first point of contact for employees involved in other projects requiring technical advice.
