Postdoctoral position in computational solid mechanics

Job Summary:
The postdoctoral research associate is expected to
provide research support within the frame of a multi-year engineering
research project undertaken by faculty from the departments of
Mechanical Engineering and Applied Math and Sciences at Khalifa
University. Limited teaching or other academic duties may be assigned to
the successful candidate under the supervision of the Advisor as
required by the University.
The successful candidate will be
expected to join as soon as possible. The duration of the appointment is until end of 2015.

Organization: Khalifa University

Job Location:
Abu Dhabi (Note: The University may periodically assign the employee to serve at any office or branch or to travel abroad on University business)
Description of Research Project:
The objective of this postdoctoral research project is to develop architectured smart materials with optimized microstructures for the purpose of maximizing strength-to-weight ratio and energy dissipation per unit volume for applications in the aerospace, automotive and civil engineering fields. The base materials are chosen to be Iron-based shape memory alloys (SMAs), which are emerging as less expensive alternatives to conventional SMAs such as Nickel-Titanium.
The envisaged research will focus on the following topics:
1. Elaboration and characterization of raw Iron-based SMAs (Fe-SMAs),
2. Modeling of monolithic and architectured Fe-SMAs,
3. Design optimization of the microstructure of architectured Fe-SMAs for optimal performance,
4. Fabrication and testing of optimized Fe-SMA samples/prototypes.

Duties and Responsibilities:
• Contributes to the research effort required for the successful completion of the research project.
• Participates in management and progress meetings relevant to the project.
• Regularly reports his progress and research findings to the Advisor, discusses technical approaches and difficulties, and maintains records of the work done.
• Acts in compliance with University policies with regard to the collection, use, and distribution of scientific data.
• Develops high quality research and participates in writing scientific articles suitable for publication in top-rated peer-reviewed journals.
• Undertakes a limited amount of teaching in relation to subject area and mentors graduate students and/or undergraduates under the supervision of the Advisor.
• Develops and delivers professional seminars and presentations in order to disseminate scientific results obtained by the project team in local and international conferences.

Education:
• PhD or equivalent in Mechanical Engineering or other equivalent area.
Experience:
• We are looking for candidates with experience in (i) Computational Solid Mechanics (ii) Finite element analysis (iii) Programming. (iv) Experience in materials characterization techniques

Computer Skills:
• Finite element analysis (Abaqus or similar)
• Scientific programming (Fortran, Matlab, and Python are preferred).
• Office software (Word, Excel)

Technical Skills:
• Numerical integration of nonlinear constitutive models for elastoplastic and similar materials.

Salary:
• The university offers internationally competitive salaries and allowance packages (75000 - 120000 USD per year)

Contact:
• Dr. Wael Zaki (wael.zaki  [at] kustar.ac.ae)