Faculty of Engineering
The University of Nottinghamâs Faculty of Engineering is one of the premier engineering faculties in the UK. The Faculty conducts research that has been recognised by the last Research Assessment Exercise as being world-leading or internationally excellent, placing Nottingham in the UKâs top five universities for engineering. The Faculty is a vibrant and supportive environment in which to work. It provides state-of-the art experimental and computational facilities and attracts leading scholars from around the world, many of whom are leaders in their fields.
Students are invited for a fully funded PhD studentship (3 years) to work as part of the Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Research Group. Located within the Faculty of Engineering, the Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing Research Group is widely regarded as the world’s leading Centre for Additive Manufacturing research, development and dissemination.
The research group hosts the EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Additive Manufacturing, which is led from the University of Nottingham with Loughborough University as a partner. The aim of this EPSRC Centre is to work at the forefront of Additive Manufacturing and Three Dimensional (3D) Printing research with a focus on next-generation, multi-material and multifunctional Additive Manufacturing systems for the production of end-use functionalised 3D structures and components.
The aim of the project associated with the advertised studentship is to realise an entirely new realm of multifunctional components by the freeform integration of electrical circuitry within dense metal components processed in the solid-state. This will allow the fabrication of novel engineered components as a result of the solid state nature of the Ultrasonic Consolidation (UC) process that will allow the integration of a wide variety of components due to the absence of elevated bulk temperatures. This research will be conducted with three PhD students working within a wider research team comprising of academics, post-doctoral researchers, and technical staff at the University of Nottingham and Loughborough University. Although operating as part of a collaborative aim, the studentship advertised will primarily research the FEA modelling of the process, working within a larger group investigating the use of computational methods in the design, optimisation, analysis and process modelling for additive manufacture.
The studentship will cover PhD tuition fees and a tax free stipend for three years (£13,590 for the 2012-13 academic year) for UK/EU students due to funding restrictions. An additional £2000 a year may be awarded for students with a 1st class degree / MSc Distinction from a UK Russell Group University or equivalent.
Students must have a first or upper second class academic qualification in Mechanical Engineering or other relevant discipline. A Masters degree in a similar discipline and/or experience in the following will be an advantage: finite element analysis, computational mechanics, structural analysis, multi-physics analysis, additive manufacturing.
Please direct informal enquiries to Prof Ian Ashcroft, via the Centre Administrator, Mirela Axinte, email: mirela.axinte@nottingham.ac.uk.
To make an application via email, please click on the Apply button below. Please send a covering letter stating clearly how you fulfil the requirements of the studentship, your research interests and include a CV, academic transcripts and the names and addresses of two academic referees to Mirela Aaxinte. Please quote ref. ENG/614.
The position will remain open until filled.