Internship | Robust Factory Scheduling

About this internship

Modern factories are interrelated and stochastic. Parallel processes depend on each other, custom jobs of custom sizes come at different times, and failed processes and reallocation of work cause cumulative delays. Together, these factors determine the risk (probability) of overshooting agreed delivery times. Making a workflow robust to disruptions is done by introducing slack, but that comes at the cost of reduced efficiency. By reasoning with uncertainty about cascaded effects, we can balance efficiency with robust delivery. In this project, you will use state-of-the-art probabilistic programming and model-based reinforcement learning techniques to optimize factory workflows under uncertain, interrelated and cascading events.

What will be your role?

Your challenge is to model a factory as a stochastic system and develop methods to characterize and optimize the impact of design choices on the balance between efficiency and robustness of the system. This entails repeating the following steps:

1. Study factory models, probabilistic programming and model-based reinforcement learning;
2. Build a probabilistic model for a factory workflow;
3. Infer optimal interventions by probabilistic inference on the model;
4. Evaluate the results, write down your findings in a scientific report, and propose model improvements.

What we expect from you

You are a Master student in Mathematics looking for a graduation assignment of 6-9 months. You have experience with programming and a strong background in probabilistic modeling and (Bayesian) inference.

What you'll get in return

You will be properly supervised during your work placement and be given the scope for you to get the best out of yourself. Furthermore, we provide:

• 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, where you can meet other TNO professionals and join several activities, such as sports activities, (work-related) courses or the yearly ski-trip.
• Use of a laptop.
• An allowance for travel expenses in case you don’t receive an OV-card.

TNO as an employer

At TNO, we innovate for a healthier, safer and more sustainable life, and for a strong economy. There is space and support for your talent and ambition, and you work with people who will challenge you, inspire you and want to learn from you. Our state-of-the-art facilities are there to realize your vision.

Contact

jacques.verriet@tno.nl