Job number ACAD104398
Division/School School of Civil, Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Contract type Open Ended
Working pattern Full time
Salary £33,797 - £42,792 

CerTest – full title ‘Certification for Design - Reshaping the Testing Pyramid’ – is £6.9M Programme Grant from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). CerTest is a close partnership between academic partners the Universities of Bristol (lead), Bath, Exeter and Southampton, with strong industrial and stakeholder support by Airbus, Rolls Royce, BAE Systems, GKN Aerospace, CFMS, the National Composites Centre (NNC), the Alan Turing Institute, and with close interaction with the European Aviation Safety Agency. CerTest addresses barriers to validation and certification of composite aerostructures posed by the so-called ‘building block approach’ (or ‘testing pyramid’), which is the backbone of current validation and certification processes. CerTest represents a decisive step towards ‘virtual testing’ on the structural scale, and aims to reduce development cost and time to market, as well as to enable more structurally efficient and lightweight composite aerostructures that are essential for meeting future fuel and cost efficiency challenges. For more information about CerTest see:  https://www.composites-certest.com/.

You will undertake research to advance the state-of-the-art of Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) for composites within the CerTest project. Topics include: (i) inversion for 3D feature‐mapping from ultrasound techniques to relieve current limitations of refraction due to anisotropy; (ii) multi‐scale X‐ray CT for (sub‐) structural in‐situ imaging, including unconventional trajectories (eliminating axi‐symmetric CT constraints); (iii) the use of quantitative vision‐based methods to track the development of part geometry through layup, forming, multiple consolidation cycles and, the cure process; (iv) eddy‐current methods to map local fibre‐tow orientation as a function of depth in an uncured component. Although the requirements relate to different NDE modalities, the underlying goal is the same: high fidelity 3D characterisation of composite structures during and after manufacture.

You must have a first degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science or a related subject, and a PhD/EngD that demonstrates your ability to apply rigorous mathematical methods to practical problems. You will be based in the vibrant Ultrasonic and Non-Destructive Testing research group and work with experts in ultrasonics, electromagnetic methods, and numerical simulations.

This post is being offered on a full-time basis, with funding for up to 3 years, starting as soon as possible.

The closing date for applications is 16 February 2020.

It is expected that interviews will be held shortly after the closing date.

Informal enquiries can be made to: Professor Paul Wilcox p.wilcox@bristol.ac.uk

We welcome applications from all members of our community and are particularly encouraging those from diverse groups, such as members of the LGBT+ and BAME communities, to join us.