Research Support Engineer

Are you interested in the design and development of new, sustainable processes for biomass upgrading and upscaling? Then this research position in our SPOT team (sustainable polymer technologies, https://spot.vito.be/en) is what you look for! Development and optimization of chemical processes, a shift to alternative resources, improved functionality, less waste, lower costs and increased efficiencies: these are the challenges industry and society are facing nowadays. For the industrial uptake of these innovative processes and products, VITO derisks the industrial investments by process development and demonstration of the developed processes both at lab scale and pilot scale. For supporting these development actions, we are looking for a chemical/process engineer to translate chemical processes into lab processes that are scalable.

Within the team we work on various topics such as biomass and lignin selection and sourcing, the characterization, design and development of technologies for its processing and upgrading mainly focusing on scalable processes. To advance the understanding and technology development, we are looking for a research support engineer to design and develop chemical recycling processes. You are able to identify problems in the design of chemical recycling of processes, to perform suitable equipment selection and propose technical solutions and validate them in the lab, in close collaboration with the expert colleagues in the team, and VITO organisation.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• You are responsible for the design of and translation of chemical processes for biomass/lignin/polymers into hardware equipment at lab-scale. You consider early in the design phase, the industrial relevance and scalability of these processes to pilot scale.
• You participate in the design of process units, including establishing process design basis, trade-off of process options and optimization of selected designs.
• You design small lab-scale test installations, select suppliers of the components, supervise the construction, and write the acceptance test and operational procedures.
• You are hands-on and like to work in the lab. You validate the design by running lab experiments.
• You specify process flow sheets and develop piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&ID).
• You design processes taking into consideration the European and engineering standards especially when it comes to safety and the protection of the environment.
• You direct activities to ensure that construction, installation and operational testing are conform to functional specifications, recognized codes and standards, legislation (ATEX, PED, …) and customer requirements & you ensure all documentation is prepared, checked, reviewed and approved adequately together with our lab coordinator.
• You maintain effective communication with project team (internal colleagues, subcontractors, partners) and stakeholders/customers.
• You carry out reviews of vendor’s bids and documentation for technical acceptability.
• You perform routine aspects of engineering requiring knowledge and application of basic engineering principles.

• You have a degree (BE, MS or MEng) in Chemical/Process Engineering with a pragmatic engineering judgement and intuition for industrial relevant processes.
• You have experience in chemical process design and chemical reactor design including working with organic solvents.
• You are well versed with process flow sheets, P&ID developement, have good knowledge of unit operations (e.g. distillation, filtration, heat transfer etc.) and technical specifications (pumps, tank/pressure vessels, valves).
• You are able a fast learner.
• Good verbal and written communication skills, where English is a must and Dutch is a pro.
• You are a hands-on team player and you know how to share your enthusiasm with your colleagues.

What can we offer you?

• The opportunity to be part of an organization with an international reputation, known for its cutting-edge technological research and scientific advice.
• A competitive salary supplemented with various extra-legal benefits including allowances, insurance and a modular holiday package.
• Innovation is our most important asset, so it goes without saying that we give our employees the opportunity to learn & further develop themselves both on the job and through training.