Bsc/Msc: Internship Applied Chemistry/ Material Sciences - Tactility of surfaces

Tactility of surfaces – how do chemistry and surface structure affect the way a print feels?

Ever wondered how modern prints are made – always wanted to know how industrial inkjet printing works?

Are you interested in working in a professional and commercial research division, combining chemistry, physics and mechanical analysis to produce the world’s best printers?

Your assignment - context

Almost everything around you has been printed in some form: large posters, banners, self-adhesive window or car/truck advertising applications or wallpaper are printed by our graphical arts ink jet systems.

Our ink jet print process is using a reactive ink activated by UV light, turning the jetted liquid ink into a solid plastic onto paper. But we’ve noticed that different print patterns, and different ink chemistries, can have drastically different effects on how a print feels to the touch.

The specifics of your assignment can be tuned to your personal strengths and interests, but may include: doing scientific literature research to investigations of similar phenomena, doing chemical and physical material analyses, and performing practical tests on experimental printer setups.

You will need a mixture of knowledge of: acrylate/ photochemistry, polymer chemistry, mechanical analysis, experience with developing practical test methods and setups.

Deliverables

• Deliver an overview of the physical fundamentals of touch – what does it “mean” for a material to be soft, hard, slippery, waxy, bouncy?
• A measurable discriminating ink property to predict the feeling of touch of a print.
• Deliver a “choice menu” w.r.t. ink formulation – if we want to have a softer print, increase the concentration of component type A and decrease the concentration of component type B.

As part of your daily work, you will

• Finish and standardize a polymerization setup for the preparation of mechanical analysis samples, making sure samples are consistently produced for the fairest possible comparison.
• Talk with our application experts and try to determine which qualitative touch descriptors are relevant to our products.
• Prepare model inks yourself to deliberately cause changes in mechanical behaviour.
• Analyze physical changes in cured ink properties (e.g. stress/strain curves) and link them to previous qualitative touch descriptors; partially perform the tests yourself and partially collaborate with our analytical team for testing.
• Perform print tests yourself to validate the formulation-feel relationship.

Your profile – you are:

• Currently studying applied HBO/WO chemistry or material sciences
• Interested in the combination of chemistry and physics.
• Inquisitive, creative and interested in learning more about the human interactions with technology.
• Up for something different – part of your work will be spent on figuring out how to translate qualitative touch descriptors (“soft”; “slippery”) in to measurable quantities.
• Timing: begin from spring 2026, you are available for 4 to 6 months for a minimum of 4 days per week.

What’s in it for you?

• A challenging assignment with skilled coaching
• Internship/ Graduation compensation of €500,- per month
• Travel cost compensation if you don’t have an ‘OV-weekcard’
• The possibility to network with professionals inside and outside your field of expertise and join our “Young Canon” activities

Your internship takes part in a varied and multi-cultural team, who are all exploring the boundaries of print and eager to help. Usually we have multiple interns present working on various topics, so there is plenty of people to share experiences and a friendly chat with!

About the company

We develop and manufacture high-tech printing products and workflow software for the commercial printing market as part of Canon, a global leader in imaging technologies. With around 3,300 employees across three continents and our headquarters in Venlo, the Netherlands, we innovate to create high-quality solutions that add color to the world. Guided by the philosophy of Kyosei—living and working together for the common good—our culture is built on openness, collegiality, trust and stability. We empower our people to grow, take initiative, and make an impact.

With our company values collaboration, innovation and ownership, we strive to bring out the best in each other, expand boundaries and feel empowered to take ownership of our work.