Internship or Graduation: Digital Passport for crew cabin demonstrator

At Damen, much effort is put into designing sustainable ships. One key pillar of sustainability is the transition toward a circular economy. Within our Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) department, we work on reducing raw material use, minimizing waste, and enabling reuse, refurbishment, and recycling through circular design principles.

Within the research project Circular Crew Cabin, we are developing a fully circular interior concept for crew accommodation onboard vessels. This includes circular materials, modular design, and design for disassembly.

A key next step in this project is to make circularity measurable and actionable through Digital Product Passports (DPP) to prove the circularity and environmental impact of the demonstrator. This internship or graduation project will directly contribute to the demonstrator phase by structuring, validating, and applying existing frameworks developed in other EU projects together with internal and external stakeholders.

The role

The main objective of this assignment is to develop and implement a Digital Product Passport for the circular crew cabin demonstrator and its components, based on recently developed Ship Circular Material Passport (SCMP) and Ship Lifecycle Passport (SLP) frameworks. You will work at the interface between design, sustainability assessment, and data structuring, translating circular design choices into measurable and traceable passport information.

After a familiarization phase with the Circular Crew Cabin project and existing frameworks, you will:

• Adapt the SCMP (component/material level) and SLP (system/lifecycle level) to the cabin demonstrator
• Structure and define the required passport attributes (materials, circularity indicators, disassembly, environmental impact, etc.)
• Collaborate with suppliers and internal stakeholders to collect and validate data
• Develop a clear and usable Digital Product Passport structure (format, logic, visualization)
• Apply the framework to the actual demonstrator design and components

The end goal is to create a working and validated DPP for a circular crew cabin, enabling better decision-making for circularity and future compliance with upcoming regulations (e.g. ESPR). This work will then serve as a basis for extending the feasibility to other spaces and components of a ship.

Key accountabilities

This assignment focuses on making circularity measurable and applicable in practice for the crew cabin demonstrator. You will adapt the SCMP and SLP frameworks to this specific use case and translate them into a structured and usable Digital Product Passport.

A key part of the work will be to define the relevant passport attributes, collect and validate data together with suppliers, and ensure consistency between material, component, and system levels. You will apply circularity indicators such as MCI, recycled content, disassembly, and lifetime, and aggregate these into a clear overall performance at system level.

In parallel, you will develop a clear and user-friendly way to visualize the passport, ensuring it can support decision-making for engineers, stakeholders, and future customers. The framework will then be applied to the circular cabin demonstrator to identify concrete improvement levers.

Finally, you will document and present your results, contributing to the further development and standardization of circularity assessment within Damen.

At the end of this project, you will have delivered:

• A fully defined Digital Product Passport framework for the circular cabin
• Applied SCMP and SLP passports to the demonstrator
• A clear aggregation methodology from material → component → system level
• Identified key circularity improvement levers
• A validated approach that can be scaled within Damen

Skills & Experience

This assignment is intended for a student in Maritime Technology / Industrial Design Engineering / Sustainability / Circular Economy / Built Environment / Data-driven design, with:

• Strong interest in circular economy and sustainability
• Affinity with data structuring, frameworks, and systems thinking
• Interest in materials and product-level environmental impact
• Analytical mindset with attention to detail
• Ability to handle incomplete or uncertain data
• Good communication skills for working with suppliers and internal stakeholders
• Structured and independent working style
• Fluent in English (spoken and written)

Nice to have

• Familiarity with LCA, MCI, or circularity indicators
• Interest in Digital Product Passports and EU regulations (ESPR)
• Experience with tools like Excel, Sharepoint, databases, or visualization platforms

What do we offer

As an intern at Damen, you will be part of a dynamic and innovative RD&I department where theory meets practice. You will:

• Work on a cutting-edge topic (Digital Product Passports & circular shipbuilding)
• Contribute directly to a physical demonstrator
• Collaborate with engineers, designers, and suppliers
• Gain insight into real-world implementation of circularity in the maritime sector
• A pleasant, informal working atmosphere and professional guidance
• Professional guidance and mentoring
• A challenging, international environment with responsibility and ownership
• A highly educational and impactful graduation project

Within Damen, you contribute to the development of sustainable maritime solutions in an international environment focused on innovation, quality, and continuous learning.

Due to housing issues we cannot accept international students that do not have accommodation in the Netherlands yet.