NAME professor Jasmin Jelovica is currently looking to recruit a Master of Applied Science (MASc) and PhD Research Assistant. Please find information about the two positions below.
MASc on optimization of marine structures
Optimization of complex structures is of paramount importance in marine, civil and other industries. It enables automatic search for optimum (cost, weight, safety, etc.) and can provide designer with valuable insights to the problem, saving time and money. However, the existing optimization algorithms either do not work for these problems or are not fast enough in many design processes.
This 2-year research project aims to develop new approaches to accelerate optimization using evolutionary algorithms. This is a continuation of an earlier work on the same topic. Genetic algorithm and particle swarm algorithm will be used. Ship structures will be optimized considering typical failure criteria from design codes: yielding and buckling of columns and plates. Depending on your background, this can be extended to civil structures as well.
The ideal candidate could be a person who completed undergraduate degree that provides understanding of structural mechanics and basic programming. Knowledge of marine structures will be important for this project, so you either took already courses on naval architecture or are willing to do so within this project. Familiarity with finite element method and tools (e.g. Ansys or Abaqus) will be considered an asset.
PhD in welding material characterization and process modeling
Welding is the main form of joining metals in various industries. The joints unfortunately suffer from lower mechanical properties than the base material, which can cause premature failure with disastrous consequences. Improvements in welding techniques aim at better material properties and reduced imperfections, which is supported by improved simulation techniques that can predict mechanical properties with good level of confidence.
This 4-year project aims to advance weld cladding by various gas metal arc welding (GMAW) technologies. The work will be mainly experimental potentially combined with certain work on computational modelling, depending on your background and interest. It will involve some (or all) of the following aspects: design of experiments (welding), evaluation of resultant weld overlays (with respect to, e.g., microstructures, chemical and mechanical performances, wear and corrosion), and modelling of weld cladding processes (related, e.g., to solidification, phase transformation, and residual stresses). The experimental part of the work will be carried out at the National Research Council Canada facility at UBC campus.
The ideal candidate could be a person who has knowledge of (and interest in) welding metallurgy, physical metallurgy, mechanical/chemical performance of materials (material wear and corrosion), thermodynamics, and solid mechanics/mechanics of materials. Familiarity with finite element method and programming (e.g. ANSYS and MATLAB) will be considered an asset.
Further info:
For both positions, the starting date will be as soon as possible. Salary is defined by the department and is sufficient to cover the living and studying expenses at UBC. A variety of useful information about the two degree programs can be found on the websites of the Mechanical and Civil Engineering departments.
How to apply:
If interested, please send your resume and transcripts to Jasmin Jelovica (jjelovica@mech.ubc.ca).
