Internship in Knowledge Graphs for Infrastructure Asset Assessment

About This Position

Major challenges await the technical industry in the coming years, including the structural safety of structures, climate adaptation, renovation and replacement of infrastructure, the energy transition, material re-use, offshore constructions, and digitalisation. For instance, the impact of increasing traffic and loads on existing infrastructure, new shipping fuels affecting structural integrity, the energy transition's influence on sustainable design or re-use of structural elements, or the design of increasingly larger offshore wind turbines. TNO addresses these significant societal issues through in-depth, independent research, combining diverse expertise to drive technological innovation.

What will be your role?

In your master thesis project, you will focus on end-of-life rule checking to support the prioritization of Replacement and Renovation Decision Making for Rijkswaterstaat through knowledge graphs. This topic offers a digital solution to four key challenges:

• Ageing Infrastructure
• Missing Overview of Large Population of Infrastructure Objects in relation to their object-type-specific failure mechanisms
• Scattered data and limited utilization and understanding of technical data for strategic asset management
• Limited re-use of existing experiences and knowledge on past failures

The solution involves creating a Rule-Based Model grounded in knowledge graphs, comprising system components such as schemas, instantiation, rule-sets, rule-checking, and visualization. Schemas will involve ontology design to capture semantic domain knowledge, linking and re-using existing ontologies. These schemas will facilitate automatic instantiation of objects using open-source frameworks like Apache Jena or RDF Lib. Rule-sets will be based on SPARQL, SHACL will be utilized for rule prototyping, and a GraphDB will be employed for rule checking and visualization. Any experience with the aforementioned topics and UI connected to GraphDBs is highly valued.

What We Expect From You

We are seeking master's students who:

• Follow a master program in STEM such as civil engineering, mechanical engineering, architecture, (applied) physics or mathematics, computer science, or similar.
• Have an investigative and critical attitude, eager to understand phenomena and their effects.
• Enjoy cooperation and demonstrate creativity.
• Live in The Netherlands.
• Possess excellent oral and written communication skills in English, and preferably Dutch language (B1 level).

Additional knowledge and skills related to the research topic may be expected.

What You'll Get In Return

TNO offers more than just an internship opportunity; your knowledge is essential to our innovation. We highly value your personal and professional development, providing proper supervision and scope to excel. Furthermore, we offer:

• A highly professional, innovative internship environment within a team of top experts.
• A suitable internship allowance (615 euro for wo-, hbo- and mbo-students, for a full-time internship).
• Possibility of eight hours of free leave per internship month (for a full-time internship).
• A free membership of Jong TNO, offering networking, sports activities, courses, and social events.
• Use of a laptop.
• An allowance for travel expenses if you do not have an OV-card.

TNO as an employer

At TNO, we innovate for a healthier, safer, and more sustainable life, and a strong economy. Since 1932, we have advanced knowledge and technology for the common good. We encourage an inclusive work environment where diverse strengths and perspectives drive innovation. Read more about TNO as an employer and our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The selection process

After an initial CV selection, the application process will be handled by the relevant department. TNO will provide a suitable internship agreement. For questions, contact the person mentioned in the vacancy.

Important to be aware of before applying

• The TNO internship agreement must be signed before the internship starts. For Dutch university/college students, TNO uses the UNL-template. For foreign and MBO educational institutions, the TNO internship agreement applies. TNO does not sign other internship agreements.
• The educational institution must confirm in writing that you are enrolled during the internship and that it is part of your study program. This confirmation occurs via the UNL template or TNO forms.
• Interns at TNO must have a Dutch residential address at the start of the internship. Performing internship activities from abroad is not permitted.

Key skills/competency

• Knowledge Graphs
• Infrastructure Asset Management
• Ontology Design
• SPARQL
• SHACL
• GraphDB
• Semantic Web
• Data Modeling
• Rule-Based Systems
• Problem Solving