About the Project
An exciting PhD position exists in Trinity College Dublin (TCD) within the Department of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, and fully funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). The successful candidate will be supervised by Prof. Rocco Lupoi and will be affiliated to the Manufacturing Technology and Systems Research Group, and the ESA project team in TCD. The project is aimed at the development of a novel process, known as Cold Spray (CS), for the efficient manufacturing of coatings and 3D components for space and terrestrial applications. CS is a technology whereby it is possible to manufacture layers of materials in a solid–state manner onto engineering components through the acceleration of particles in a supersonic nozzle. Melting temperatures are never crossed. The project will therefore envisage CS as new Additive Manufacturing or 3D-Printing method, with a number of potential advantages over the state of the art.
The student will have hands-on experience gained during the course of his/her master project and/or within an industrial environment. The programme will develop state of the art CS systems to achieve set targets in collaboration with ESA, and will involve the design of new CS nozzles, the development of process simulations, the development of gas systems, the design and build of new equipment, materials selection / testing, and the execution of experiments.
The ideal candidate will have, or be:
- An engineering master degree in mechanical engineering or similar, with a final equivalent score of 2.1 or above.
- Good level of written and spoken English. For students whose first language is not English, the following entry requirements will apply and must be fully met before the start of the position:
https://www.tcd.ie/courses/postgraduate/how-to-apply/requirements/international.php
- Highly interested, committed and motivated individual towards the achievement of a PhD degree.
- Experience at undergraduate level using computer modelling packages (such as Ansys-Fluent, OpenFoam or CFX) and/or Matlab is an advantage.
- Experience in material testing and with other manufacturing processes is an advantage.
- Experience in the field of CS is a clear advantage, but it is not necessary.
- Attended and passed modules with good scores in the field of fluid mechanics, maths and materials. Preferably, attended and passed classes also in the field of photonics.
Funding is available to fully cover research consumables, travel and related expenses. On top of that, PhD registration fees plus a student stipend of approximately €14,000 per year (tax free) for the full degree period of 3 years. It may be possible to apply annual increments to the stipend.
The student will preferably start on the 1st of March 2015; however later dates can be negotiated.
In order to apply, please send a cover letter to highlight your motivation and fit to the project, a CV with exams scores list (in .pdf format), and contact details of two references by email to Rocco Lupoi at [Email Address Removed]
The closing day for applications is the 22nd of January 2015. Shortlisted candidates will be informed soon after the deadline.
Further information about research groups and department can be found at the address below:
http://www.tcd.ie/mecheng/research/manufacturing-tech-systems/