Mechatronics Designer / Mechanical Engineer for Medical Device Development

Tecnalia is the largest private Research, Development and Innovation (R+D+i) group in Spain and one of the leading ones in Europe, with a staff of over 1,400 people and a turnover of 110 million euros. Tecnalia’s lemma is to develop technologies that can be converted in value and benefits for our clients and the overall society. One of the main targets of any Tecnalia project is the technology development and transfer towards the industry.

The Health Division at Tecnalia designs and develops, among other things, advanced medical devices to treat neurological diseases to enable elderly, disable or injured persons to compensate or accelerate the recovery of their lost functions (such as mobility) and to facilitate personal autonomy while improving their quality of life. In addition, Tecnalia Health develops novel robotic devices both for the healthcare industry and for worker protection and wellbeing in industrial settings.

The main research lines of the Neuro-Rehabilitation Department are:

1. Functional electrical stimulation. Design and development of selective transcutaneous FES standalone devices or in combination with wearable robotic devices. Development of multi-pad electrodes.
2. Functional assessment. Balance assessment, postural control and biofeedback systems; Upper extremity functional assessment, muscular activity, functional performance; Activity monitoring, user intention detection; Connected medical devices and data analytics
3. Upper-limb rehabilitation robotics. Design and development of actuated and non-actuated robotic devices for the rehabilitation process, therapy, assessment and assistance.

The Medical Robotics Department has on-going projects that include:

1. Teleoperated Robotics. Development of intuitive user interfaces for teleoperation, including haptic feedback, that are tuned to the physiological and perceptual capabilities of the human operator.
2. Industrial Cobots. Surgical and Industrial robots designed to work in synergy with human co-workers (e.g. surgeons or assembly-line workers), combining the strength and precision of the robot with the adaptability and reasoning capabilities of the human.
3. Exoskeletons and Cobots for Worker Safety. Development of control strategies and physical human-robot interactions to protect the safety and wellbeing of human workers in physically demanding vocations, including healthcare professionals and assembly-line workers.

We are looking for a Mechatronics Designer / Mechanical Engineer with strong hardware development skills, background to develop and implement advanced medical robotics, such as surgical robotic tools or rehabilitation robots, working on projects related mainly to design, develop and implement advanced technologies for Neurorehabilitation and other forms of medical robotics. Examples include wearable robotics for reaching, hand grasp and manipulation, wearable actuation technologies and haptic interfaces and force sensing for surgical robots and teleoperation. Candidates will have experience in mechatronics, semi-autonomous systems and control.

The person will be responsible for the excellence and the execution of projects in which he/she is strongly involved, both in terms of time and cost constraints.

The person will work within a team of researchers/engineers within a private research center, be included in identification, definition and acquisition of new business opportunities, expressed or unexpressed requirements from our clients as well as definition and cost evaluation of the proposed solution in commercial offers, and contributions to European projects proposals.

Who are you?

Independent and dedicated, you are innovative and eager to move next generation rehabilitation robotics or wearable robotics into real world applications, working on the design, development and implementation of innovative robotic, prosthetic or orthotic systems (wearable actuation technologies, haptics, active prosthetic systems) from first conceptual ideas to the validation in real-environment pilot prototypes. You have the skills and the passion to create innovative mechatronic designs.

You are proactive, independent, with abilities in planning and organization, and team-work. Candidates must be solution and results oriented, able to work in agile and scrum environments. You have proven knowledge in robotic and mechatronic HW development, robotic systems for healthcare, neuro-rehabilitation or assistive devices.

You have very good engineering and technical skills, are problem-solving oriented and comfortable working in a team in different languages and locations.