Are you fascinated by innovations that contribute to a circular economy or to the energy transition. Do you consider waste a resource? Are you interested in innovative solutions for reducing CO2-emissions, waste, water shortage and air pollution? Are you eager to contribute to a more sustainable society? Come and join the team of Cleantech Flanders!
Cleantech Flanders ( https://www.cleantechflanders.com/ ) is a team powered by VITO that represents the Flemish Cleantech ecosystem by connecting parties and advocating clean technologies. To strengthen our team, we are looking for an experienced project manager to support our portfolio of mostly international projects. As a project manager you will take the lead in the coordination and execution of international projects, that predominantly focus on the future exploitation of the urban mine by so-called landfill mining.
VITO (Flemish Institute for Technological Research) is a leading European independent research institute in the domain of cleantech and sustainable development.
You work in a team that executes national and international projects.
You coordinate and contribute to the execution of international (Interreg) projects by collaborating with your colleagues international project partners.
You take the lead or assist in organizing project meetings and events and workshops with colleagues or international project partners.
Regular travel within Europe is necessary.
Together with the communication team of VITO you take care of the necessary project communication activities and you identify opportunities for promoting cleantech through the Cleantech Flanders communication platform.
You report the project results to the customer and the project partners and you communicate them to stakeholders.
VITO is a leading research center in Flanders (Belgium) in the field of technology development for sustainable processes. The Unit of Separation and Conversion Technology (SCT), has a strong focus on bio- or CO2-based routes. VITO’s biotechnology team has a long-standing and unique expertise in gas fermentations, and in design, operation and optimization of enzymatic and whole cell bioconversion processes, tested either in stand-alone mode or coupled to membrane technology. The team consists of permanent researchers, engineers, technicians, PhD and postdoctoral students and wishes to expand with an extra postdoctoral researcher. More information available on www.vito.be or https://vito.be/en/theme/sustainable-chemistry.
Equal opportunity position
Job Description:
You will be working on multidisciplinary projects aiming at developing, optimizing and intensifying biotechnological processes (both whole cell and enzymatic conversions)
You will perform lab work as well as design and set up experiments and analyze data
You will handle several projects running in parallel
You are eager to run complex lab installations and long-term challenging biotech experiments
You will work independently towards the project goal, take responsibility for high quality results and reporting
You will work in an international team and context
DATA SCIENTIST ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR RECYCLING
Mol
R&D & Engineering
Description:
VITO has clear ambitions to further strengthen its research programme ‘Sustainable Materials Management’. We strive towards a more circular economy by developing zero-waste solutions to sustainably transform residues into resources and products.
To strengthen our research we are looking for a creative and motivated scientist or engineer to develop a VITO recycling technology based an artificial intelligence and sensor data.
As R&D professional you will be part of an experienced and well-equipped research team aiming to develop advanced sorting and recycling technologies.
The research will focus on the development of software and state-of-the-art algorithms in the field of sensor based sorting through image processing, object recognition and machine learning.
More specifically, you will develop object recognition models based on images from different types of sensors (x-ray, 3D and color).
In this development, the focus is on image pre-processing techniques such as image registration (alignment), image segmentation, image quality improvement and on deep learning models for classification.
An important aspect is to optimize the computational efficiency by making use of GPU-based algorithms.
You will integrate the models into a software framework that streamlines the process of data acquisition, model training and result visualization, which are applied to specific material streams (residues) from various industrial customers.
VITO believes that through artificial intelligence and data mining, novel technologies can be developed that allow a breakthrough in the waste processing and valorization industry. The algorithms will be applied to data generated by a novel multi-sensor line scanner device (so-called ‘Characterise-to-Sort’). The prototype available at VITO consists of a conveyer belt currently equipped with dual energy X-ray transmission, 3D laser triangulation and RGB sensors.
The Remote Sensing unit of VITO processes petabytes of earth observation data. We primarily specialize 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.
For our big data services development team, we are looking for a dynamic and highly motivated R&D Project Manager Remote Sensing Platforms. In this role, you are the driver in an ecosystem of earth observation and big data platforms and ensure project execution from proposal to final review meeting. Projects are situated in a context of Belgian space programs, the European Space Agency and the European Commission and have a close link to supporting the remote sensing application projects.
As a Project manager, you will work within a team of solution architects, software developers and operation engineers. Together with the team you translate user requirements in a system and service design. You will scan the market for opportunities to contribute to and execute the internal vision and roadmap on big data and processing platforms.
You'll become part of a talented, dedicated team working in a fast-paced, challenging international environment. We thrive to develop cutting edge technologies that will be used in applications and services by a broad public, industry, the public sector and universities.
Project management in its broad context: responsible for tasks, deliverables, risk assessment and mitigation, documentation within time and within budget. This in close cooperation with international partner companies and institutions and the customer
Project administration and reporting towards the customers and management
Representation of your project portfolio on international, mostly scientific conferences
Translation of project opportunities to actual proposals
Planning of necessary resources including subcontractors
Keep track of a strong user-oriented approach
Team coaching
Continuous improvement in the project and development processes
Stay on the leading edge of the evolving remote sensing and IT world
The VITO Data Science Hub designs, develops, tests and valorises data-intensive algorithms to improve sustainability in the areas of Energy, Materials, Chemistry, Health and Land Use. It holds a horizontal structure and operates on corporate level. This hub focuses on:
Strategy development for data science on corporate level
Multidisciplinary data-intensive projects
Supporting and coaching staff in relation to machine learning and automated data analysis
Helping to develop reusable software and working to raise the TRL (technology readiness level)
THE ROLE
You focus on designing and developing reusable software in which data science takes a central role
You work together with 5 colleagues
You advise staff from various VITO departments regarding the use of data science techniques
You participate in educating, training and coaching staff within our various VITO units
You broaden your knowledge and expertise, and remain up-to-date regarding the new developments and the data science community
You publish research results (in collaboration with PhD students) and present at international fora
You play an active part in drawing up research proposals and acquiring new projects
You help to identify new IP opportunities and valorisation initiatives
The VITO Data Science Hub designs, develops, tests and valorises data-intensive algorithms to improve sustainability in the areas of Energy, Materials, Chemistry, Health and Land Use. It’s a horizontal structure at corporate level. The Hub focuses on: • Strategy formation of data science activities at corporate level • Multidisciplinary data-intensive projects • Support and coaching of employees with regard to high-performance computing, machine learning and automated data analysis • The co-development of reusable knowledge and software and increasing the TRL (technology readiness level)
THE ROLE
You focus on opening up, harmonising and coordinating the use of available computing power at VITO in accordance with data-intensive research questions and AI applications in consultation with the data science infrastructure architect.
You will supervise and support employees within the various VITO departments with the implementation and optimisation of computationally intensive algorithms on the available computing infrastructure (GPU servers and computing clusters), both within and outside VITO.
You will design, develop and maintain qualitative and reusable AI software components to support data-intensive research and AI applications.
You will expand your knowledge and expertise and follow the trends within the deep learning, data science and distributed computing community, and experiment with new technologies to assess their potential for VITO.
You will work together with 5 colleagues within the Data Science Hub and will be prepared to further expand data science integration within VITO.
You will help organise training, education and coaching of the employees within the various VITO departments.
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.
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.
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 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 Analyst to strengthen our organic analysis competence team.
Tasks and Responsibilities:
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.
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 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.
You will be part of a self-steering team in which you perform these tasks in collaboration with other 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 will join a fascinating environment in which no project is the same and that gives you the chance to strengthen yourself in different techniques.
