Internship at Modeling and Simulation Department

Who are we?
Sonion is a global supplier within the Hearing Aid Industry. The Sonion Group develops, manufactures, and sells product solutions to customers who manufacture hearing instruments and other acoustic solutions. Sonion Nederland B.V (Sonion NL) is the main R&D center within transducers and modules, but Sonion NL also has sales supportive activities such as Application Engineering, CQS and administrative support functions. Sonion has facilities in Denmark, the Netherlands, Vietnam, the Philippines, USA and China, wherefrom our (more than 6000) colleagues work together across all locations.

Background
The recently established Modeling and Simulation Department at Sonion has a young and rapidly growing team with the goal to model and design innovative products for the hearing aid and pro-audio industry, such as miniaturized loudspeakers and other transducers used also in many modern consumer electronics products like smart phones, ear buds, tablets. In case of hearing aids, transducers are the main active components, and their behavior is crucial for the hearing aid performance. Therefore, a good dynamic model able to predict the behavior of the transducer under different conditions is required in order to test new designs, optimize the sound quality and reduce the product size.

Project #1 – Development of a fully coupled FEA-based transducer model
The goals of the project are:

• Implementation of efficient computational models coupling electromagnetics, solid mechanics and acoustics via COMSOL Multiphysics software. The focus will be on speeding up the simulations, while preserving the accuracy of the FEM models.
• Modeling complex physical phenomena including nonlinearities in the magnetic and/or solid mechanic domains, in frequency and time domains, with validation of the predictions by measurements. Further, the investigation will include a parameter sensitivity analysis for different physical features like thermo-viscous boundary layers, magnetic hysteresis and saturations.

Project #2 – Development of a MEMS microphone lumped element model
The goal of the project is to study the behavior of MEMS microphone lumped element models (LEM) with respect to the relevant parameters. Parameter sensitivity studies of the microphone LEM in OrCAD PSpice will be performed aiming at understanding the behavior of the model from Physics perspective. In particular, the microphone performance will be investigating by measuring and predicting:

• Magnitude and phase of the electrical output signal as a reaction to acoustic signal, acoustic sensitivity
• Magnitude and phase of the electrical output signal as a reaction to vibration signal, vibration sensitivity
• Equivalent input noise (EIN) of the microphone with open inlet without the presence of external signals

Project #3 – Nonlinear material models for transducer membranes
Goal of this project is to investigate the nonlinear behavior of the sealing layer in miniaturized loudspeakers membranes and its effects on the transducer frequency response. The sealing layer, polymer-based foil with thickness ranging from 10 to 30 um, is placed on the transducer membrane to acoustically seal the front and back chamber while being mechanically transparent. A fully coupled FEA-based model will be developed by using COMSOL software.

The investigation will include the following aspects:

• Sealing foil implementation by using 3D solid domains or 2D shell boundary settings
• Electro-mechano-acoustical coupling with and without thermo-viscous damping
• Parameter mesh sensitivity to properly predict the frequency response of the model
• Nonlinear material response of the sealing layer as a function of membrane displacement

Required competences

• Currently studying mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and/or physics
• Knowledge of engineering processes/principles
• Ability to write technical documentation
• Capable of thinking on a system level as well as on component level
• Familiarity with one (or more) of the following topics: acoustics, finite element methods, electromagnetism, computational mechanics.
• Easy learner (to use new FEM-based softwares (COMSOL) or SPICE simulators (OrCAD, LTSpice).
• Basic knowledge of Mathworks Matlab.
• Result driven
• Pro-actively searching for solutions
• Not afraid to think “outside of the box”
• We need someone who is hands-on, proactive, eager to learn and result driven. You can interact effectively with a wide variety of people with different backgrounds.

Our offer

• Internship starting February 2025;
• Your own workspace with all the hardware you will need;
• Compensated travel expenses if you don’t have your Study OV card;
• €500 monthly internship allowance;
• Flexible workhours;
• Free parking;
• An office located a 5-minute walk away from Hoofddorp train station.

More importantly, we offer you a work environment that gives you the opportunity to steadily further develop. In this project, you will get a lot of responsibility and chances to use your knowledge in the field. You and your supervisor will regularly reflect on your work. Sonion is an international and inclusive organization where it is easy to connect with colleagues. So, what are you waiting for? now!

Further information and application

Please send your application including your CV and motivational letter in English to Cathrine Hansen, People & Culture Business Partner, to [email protected].