Introduction:
Philips Drachten is at the heart of innovation in Personal Health. With more than 1,500 colleagues from over 35 nationalities, our site is a global center for developing consumer products, where our teams focus on designing solutions that deliver excellent user experiences. The Grooming & Beauty (G&B) R&D team includes over 450 members based in Drachten. Together, we design and develop market-leading and personalized grooming and beauty products, from Shaving & OneBlade to Hair Care. Creating products that improve daily life for millions.
Background:
Understanding the mechanical interaction between skin and a personal care device is critical for designing products that both perform well and are comfortable to use. Despite its importance, reliably measuring this interaction under realistic conditions remains an open challenge, and this project aims to solve it. Working within the Philips R&D team in Drachten, you will develop and validate a measurement methodology for characterizing skin deformation and contact forces, using state-of-the-art instrumentation available in our lab.
The work sits at the intersection of precision instrumentation, experimental mechanics, and consumer product development. You will collaborate with specialists across measurement science, materials, and engineering.
What you will work on
- Investigate force and displacement sensing technologies.
- Integrate sensors into existing devices and mechanical setups.
- Develop synchronized data acquisition routines for sensors and scanners.
- Collect static (and optionally dynamic) measurements under defined operating conditions.
- Calibrate and validate measurements for accuracy and repeatability.
- Analyze and visualize data to identify patterns.
- Create hardware and software prototypes.
What you're bringing:
- A background in Mechanical (Biomedical) Engineering, Applied Physics, or a related technical field
- Interest in sensors, measurement systems, and prototyping.
- Basic programming and data analysis skills (Python, MATLAB, or similar).
- Hands-on mindset and an interest in experimental R&D work
- interest in translating research into real-world impact.
What you get:
A technically challenging, hands-on project with real-world relevance, embedded in a multidisciplinary R&D environment. You'll expand your professional network by collaborating with Philips colleagues from various departments and disciplines.
Contact Information
To apply or request more information, please contact:
Wilko Westerhof
Senior Function Developer, Cutting Elements
Grooming and Beauty, Personal Health, Royal Philips, Drachten
Published on: May 12, 2026