Job description
The Department of Civil Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering Technology (ET) of the University of Twente (UT) has an opening for a full-time, 4-year, fully-funded PhD project. The project concerns the design, testing and evaluation of advanced cyclist interfaces and assistance systems for electric bikes (e-bikes). Advanced driver assistance systems are common for car drivers but are new for cyclists and research is needed. Can assistance systems make cycling use more safe, reliable, and comfortable? Under which conditions do Dutch cyclists accept a system taking control of, for example, speed or acceleration of their e-bikes? You will design and test such a system, and examine the impacts on user satisfaction, cycling behaviour, traffic safety and the journey experience of different e-bike user groups, including commuters and elderly people.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Netherlands is well-known for cycling. All together the Dutch own over 22 million bicycles with a population of 17 million people. Electric bikes (e-bikes) are rapidly growing in popularity in the Netherlands since its introduction in the late 1990ies. Currently, over 400,000 e-bikes are sold annually in the Netherlands. The growing popularity (of powerful) e-bikes has many advantages but at the same time the number of traffic accidents with (mainly elderly) e-bike users has grown rapidly.
The University of Twente (Departments of Civil Engineering and Computer Science) is collaborating with Accell Group, TU Delft and Saxion University of Applied Science in an NWO funded research project Smart Connected Bikes, comprising three PhD positions. Accell group is a large European bicycle manufacturer and produces and distributes bicycles through several brands, including the electric-bike pioneer-brands Haibike and Sparta.
The Smart Connected Bikes project aims to explore, develop and test a connected bicycle ecosystem combining the capabilities of sensing, wireless technology and data science to make bicycle use more safe, reliable, and comfortable. The project will comprise large-scale field tests and applications can provide safety information such as collision avoidance warnings, communication with traffic signals to provide improved bicycle detection as well as to convey traffic information to bicyclists. The design, testing and evaluation of advanced cyclist assistance systems is an important part of the Smart Connected Bikes project.
As a PhD candidate you will be enrolled in the Twente Graduate School (TGS). Your work location is Enschede, but you will spend a part of your time at the Accell offices (Apeldoorn, Heerenveen or Ede).
Additional information about this position can be obtained from prof. dr. Karst T. Geurs, Transport Engineering and Management Research group, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Twente (e-mail: k.t.geurs@utwente.nl).
Please submit your application before September 1, 2020 (choose “apply now” below). Your application must include:
Since only three documents can be uploaded per application, please combine documents if needed.
In your application, please refer to Polytechnicpositions.com