Postdoctoral Fellow in Nuclear Engineering

Location AE
Organization Name Nuclear Engineering

About University

The newly-established Khalifa University of Science and Technology combines The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research and The Petroleum Institute into one world-class, research-intensive institution, seamlessly integrating research and education to produce world leaders and critical thinkers in applied science and engineering. Khalifa University of Science and Technology endeavors to be a leader among research intensive universities of the 21st century, while catalyzing the growth of Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s rapidly developing knowledge economy.

Brief Description

Research and teaching conducted at the Nuclear Engineering Department spans from frontline topics in basic science (atomic, nuclear, and particle) to more applied areas such as nuclear reactor physics, nuclear reactor technology, nuclear thermal hydraulics analysis, and nuclear power safety. Our Nuclear Engineering Department invites applications for a postdoctoral position under an approved fund to investigate numerically and experimentally a novel hybrid renewable/clean energies system.

In this role the successful candidate will carry out:

• Thermal hydraulics analysis using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach taking in account the neutronic parameters.
• Build a prototype to investigate the system feasibility and to validate the numerical predictions.
• Study in details the behavior of the proposed system during reactor transients
• Write conference and journal articles, and present the results of the work at international conferences and events.

The appointment will be for two years. The position is within the area of CFD modeling of nuclear reactor cores and thermal energy storage. The topic is related to the strong interest towards new concepts of coupling nuclear reactors to thermal energy storage to safely follow the electricity grid variable load profile without affecting the reactor operation (operated at the maximum rated power).

Detailed Description

Your responsibilities will also include:

• Developing a new one- and/or two-phase flow model for TES;
• Performing CFD simulations of one- and two-phase flows using high-performance computing (HPC) facility;
• Using high-fidelity turbulence models to improve one- and two-phase flow predictions;
• Generate experimental database to help improving the accuracy of one- and two-phase flow models;
• Performing thermal hydraulic analyses related to nuclear reactors and thermal energy storage;
• Review design and safety analyses of nuclear reactor and related experiments;
• Program solutions, or modify existing software codes to the support project;
• Prepare reports, papers, and technical presentations on the results of analytical activities

Job Requirements

• A PhD degree awarded in nuclear, mechanical, chemical or industrial engineering with a specialization in heat and mass transfer, fluid dynamics or reactor thermal hydraulics is a requirement. We seek a candidate with a strong background in experimentation and modelling of one- and two-phase flows.
• The successful applicant should be strongly motivated, have the capability to work independently as well as in collaboration with members of the research group.
• In-depth knowledge of one- and two-phase flow and boiling heat transfer is essential for this position. Experience with simulation of thermal-hydraulics of nuclear power plants as well as documentation of research work (publications) is a merit. The position will also require independent work in addition to collaborative skills and creative thinking. In addition, good oral and written communication skills in English are required.
• Considerable knowledge of multi-dimensional code development for two-phase flow applications, turbulence modeling, thermal hydraulics, heat transfer, and parallel scientific computing is required. Knowledge of other CFD tools are a very strong plus, such as Star-CCM+, Code_Saturne, or OpenFoam. Other programming skills, e.g. Matlab, are a plus.

The candidate is expect to have considerable knowledge and skills in:

• Nuclear engineering principles, theories, and practices for the design and analysis of reactor systems.
• Applying computational approaches and techniques for analysis, data interpretation, and engineering problem solving.
• Skills using CFD codes (e.g. STAR-CCM+, Code_Saturne, or OpenFoam) are required.
• Programming skills, including scripting languages, are required.
• Verification of results through application of multi-physics or multi-dimensional approaches to find solutions to quantitative problems.

How To Apply

Prospective applicants are requested to submit a cover letter, a CV with list of publications and two references. Inclusion of publications in peer-reviewed journals is optional (no more than three).

Should you require further assistance or if you face any issue with the online application, please feel to contact the Recruitment Team (RecruitmentTeam@ku.ac.ae)