Mechanical Engineering

A wide spectrum of target thermoplastic materials can be manufactured by tailoring polymer blends to achieve particular combinations of end-user performance (e.g. mechanical, electrical, structural support) properties, important in various industrial sectors, especially in extreme-condition environments. These polymeric material classes include the widely used polyolefins (PE, PP), but also others derived from higher-MW monomers (PS, PVC, PVP, PC, PTFE, etc. ). The key challenge here is to computationally predict (and experimentally confirm) optimal blend compositions which can be manufactured reasonably easily (high processability via extrusion, blow moulding, etc.), in order to achieve formulated products which achieve (or exceed) the said end-user properties, under reasonable total (fixed+operating) cost per unit mass.

Over the years, the UoE Polymer Engineering Laboratory has compiled a wealth of experimental datasets for many blend-condition combinations (virgin/recycled feedstocks, input molecules, temperatures, extrusion/moulding settings, product macro-dimensions) e.g. Polymers 2023, 15(21), 4200 (https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15214200). Constructing first-principles mathematical models which combine macromolecular physical chemistry (e.g. Flory-Huggins theory) descriptions with mass/heat balances towards end-product property estimation, rigorous unit operation (e.g. extruder) design and optimisation is extremely cumbersome, both due to mathematical complexity, but even more so due to the extreme and pervasive parametric uncertainty hampering such efforts.

Therefore, this PhD project aims to combine state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) methodologies in order to explore optimal blending and processing conditions for polymeric material classes, towards developing materials which will achieve high performance indices for key target properties, while also ensuring high processability and cost-optimal manufacturing at scale.

Strong computational skills, an interest in statistics, and prior experience in numerical methods/software (MATLAB, Python) are essential; prior ML-based project work is desirable.

https://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/about/people/dr-dimitrios-i-gerogiorgis

https://vasileioskoutsos.wixsite.com/softmaterials

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity. Please see details here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

An undergraduate degree in Chemical/Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related area (Physics, Chemistry), with a strong background in computational modelling.

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. 

Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere.

Further information and other funding options.

Pressing fire safety challenges exist in both the built and natural environment with climate change effects leading to increased extreme weather events in many regions increasing wildfire risk. Similarly, sustainable development efforts are one of the drivers of increased adoption of bio-based, sustainable construction materials some of which may also introduce novel fire hazards. This PhD position provides the opportunity to contribute to ongoing efforts at the Edinburgh Fire Research Centre to apply fundamental principles of physics, chemistry and engineering to characterize the combustion behaviour of wildland vegetation and bio-based materials.  

This PhD position would suit motivated candidates from a wide range of academic backgrounds (e.g. Applied Science/Maths/Physics, Engineering, Geosciences etc.) who are interested in applying their existing skillset to problems in fire science, fire engineering and/or wildland fire science.

The project will include the opportunity to gain expertise in the development and use of a variety of established and novel measurement instrumentation to monitor and characterize the variation in structure of a fuel as it burns. For example, utilizing established methods to quantify the spatial and temporal variation of solid fuel temperatures (e.g. colour pyrometry) and burning rate (continuous mass loss measurements). Alongside developing novel approaches to characterising and quantifying the variation in fuel structure (volume, geometry) and the resulting influence on linked physical properties (e.g. drag force, radiative absorption).

The results obtained will be used to support the development of improved fire behaviour modelling tools and to improve our existing theoretical descriptions of fire spread in porous fuels. This in turn, will support ongoing global efforts to develop improved decision support tools to aid land managers and fire agencies in developing land management and fire management strategies in the natural environment, and to support fire safety engineering design efforts in the built environment.

During this project, you will be part of The Edinburgh Fire Research Centre within the Institute for Infrastructure and Environment. You will join a vibrant community of PhD students, postdoctoral research associates and academics working in various aspects of fire science and engineering. This is a collaborative and friendly environment and strong teamwork and communication skills are therefore required.

More information on the Edinburgh Fire Research Centre - http://www.fire.eng.ed.ac.uk/research

Examples of the effects of fuel structure on combustion behaviour in wildland fires: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPqXRsMbz18&t=387s

Existing Wildfire Research projects at The University of Edinburgh in collaboration with the USDA Forest Service & partners. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEO_8oXtbes&t=4s

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity. Please see details here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Tuition fees + stipend are available for Home/EU and International students

Further information and other funding options.

This PhD project proposes an innovative exploration of how sex-specific differences in hormonal profiles and blood flow dynamics impact liver function, utilizing cutting-edge techniques involving liver organoids and microfluidic technology. Males and females differ significantly in their liver function and pathology, thought to be largely due to variations in hormonal environment and hemodynamics. Despite these observations, current approaches to elucidating these effects are limited, and rely heavily on expensive, time-consuming, and ethically challenging animal models and clinical trials. This project aims to fill this critical gap by developing and leveraging organoid-based models coupled with microfluidic systems to simulate and study the effects of these variables on liver behavior.

The overarching aims of the project will be:

1. Develop and Characterize Sex-Specific Liver Organoids: Generate male and female liver organoids using cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells. These organoids will provide a 3D cellular architecture that mimics the microenvironment of the human liver.
2. Integrate Liver Organoids into a Microfluidic Platform: Deploy these organoids within a microfluidic device designed to mimic blood flow characteristics. This integration will allow for the precise control and measurement of fluid shear stress and oscillating hormone profiles, mimicking the physiological conditions of male and female circulatory systems.
3. Investigate Hormonal Impact: Examine how exposure to different levels and types of hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone, influences liver function within this controlled setting. Focus will be on key functional metrics like metabolism, bile production, and response to injury.

The project aims to reveal critical insights into the sex-specific regulatory mechanisms of liver function influenced by hormonal and hemodynamic conditions. By elucidating these differences, the research will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of liver disease pathogenesis across sexes, potentially guiding more personalized medical treatments.

Location and skills: The project will be carried out at the Institute for Bioengineering (IBioE) at the University of Edinburgh. The student will attain skills in mammalian cell culture, microfluidics, materials, optical microscopy, as well as data and image analysis.

Career development -

Institutional and Peer Support: you will benefit from an excellent supportive environment at the School of Engineering within the Institute for Bioengineering at The University of Edinburgh.

International Collaboration: the successful student will also have to opportunity visit and interact with our network of international collaborators.

Impactful publications and dissemination: the student will also benefit from strong support towards publications in world class journals and participation in major conferences as well as support to undertake outreach to the wider public.

Teaching and Research Development: the potential student will have the opportunity (once trained and familiar with relevant materials) to become a teaching assistant for courses offered at the School of Engineering.

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity. Please see details here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

Applicants applying for an MRC DTP in Precision Medicine studentship must have obtained, or will soon obtain, a first or upper-second class UK honours degree or equivalent non-UK qualification, in an appropriate science/technology area.

Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

We welcome applications from self-funded students

Further information and other funding options.

Membrane-based processes for water treatment, such as reverse osmosis (RO), hold promise in tackling water scarcity locally and globally. Nevertheless, conventional polyamide membranes for RO exhibit low rejection of Small, charge-Neutral Contaminants (SNCs), which endanger human health and biota.

Progress towards highly selective membranes has been hindered by insufficient understanding of the mechanisms that underlie separation efficiency: how water and contaminants sorb into, and diffuse through, polyamide membranes. Both contaminant sorption and transport require a molecular-level treatment, at far higher resolution than is afforded by conventional (continuum) membrane transport models.

Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and free energy calculations, this project aims to computationally design highly selective RO membranes by elucidating the mechanisms governing SNC sorption and transport. The project will focus on SNCs that are insufficiently rejected by state-of-the art RO membranes, e.g., boric acid, a toxic constituent of seawater, and N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a carcinogenic disinfection by-product whose insufficient removal during RO-based wastewater reuse (rejection ~ 60%) demands additional, and costly, advanced oxidation processes (e.g., high-energy UV).

The specific objectives of this project are:

• Objective 1. To gain molecular-level insight into the hydration layer at the polyamide-water interface, to understand how interfacial water molecules determine SNC sorption and transport.
• Objective 2. To elucidate the role of interfacial chemistry in SNC sorption to polyamide, in order to computationally develop surface coatings to bolster SNC rejection, and thus establish structure-property-performance relations linking coating composition with SNC rejection.
• Objective 3. To characterise the transport mechanisms of SNCs through polyamide, to enable transport models to quantify the trade-off between contaminant rejection and water permeance.

Simulation insights emerging from this project will enable membrane manufacturers to develop highly selective RO membranes. These materials will lower the cost of seawater desalination and wastewater recycling by RO, in addition to producing safer product water for humans and ecosystems.

Research and Training

The successful applicant will conduct research in the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, under the co-supervision of Dr Santiago Romero-Vargas Castrillón and Dr Rohit Pillai. The student will have access to a wide range of computational facilities, including ARCHER2, the UK’s national supercomputer. Educational and research opportunities afforded by this project include:

• Training in state-of-the-art molecular simulation technique
• Close mentoring through regular meetings, as well as interactions with other investigators at the Institute of Multiscale Thermofluids (IMT) and the Institute for Infrastructure and Environment (IIE) at Edinburgh
• The opportunity to attend national and international scientific conferences to disseminate your result
• Strong emphasis and support to publish research results in leading scientific journals, which will kickstart your career in academia or industry

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity. Please see details here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

This is a challenging and scientifically ambitious project, requiring a student who is dedicated and enthusiastic about asking, and tackling, fundamental questions. The successful applicant will have been awarded an undergraduate degree at the time of appointment (2:1 or above, preferably supported by an MSc) in chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemistry, physics, materials science, or a cognate field. A strong background in mathematics and physics is required, as well as interest in molecular simulation. Prior research experience in modeling and simulation is highly desirable.

Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere, as explained below.

PhD studentships managed by the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh are available every year through a competitive process.

Applicants interested in applying for a University-administered award should e-mail the supervisors (Santiago@ed.ac.uk, R.Pillai@ed.ac.uk) as soon as possible to begin discussions, explaining how your experience meets the Applicant Requirements given above. Application deadlines vary from mid-January to late March.

Please note that most studentships are available only to Home Students (International students not eligible.)

To qualify as a Home student, you must fulfil one of the following criteria:

• You are a UK student

• You are an EU student with settled/pre-settled status who also has 3 years residency in the UK/EEA/Gibraltar/Switzerland immediately before the start of your Programme.

Further information and other funding options.

Condensation is a heat transfer process in which a vapor releases energy/heat as it changes its phase to become a liquid, which typically occurs when the vapor is cooled below its dew temperature, often upon making contact with a cooler surface. This process is critical in numerous applications, including in HVAC systems, power generation, and refrigeration. The effectiveness of dropwise condensation in transferring heat makes it essential in condensers, where minimizing the surface area for dropwise condensation and optimizing conditions for heat transfer can significantly enhance system efficiency. Techniques such as enhancing surface properties or controlling fluid dynamics are often employed to maximize the rate of heat transfer during the condensation process.

Recently, we developed new techniques to modify surfaces with regions that can tune the surface properties and control the fluid dynamics of condensing droplets via patterned liquid-like surfaces, which are based on Slippery Covalently Attached Liquid-like Surfaces (SCALS). In this experimental project, you will tackle questions involving condensation on patterned liquid-like surfaces: we are interested in understanding how the different SCALS chemistries and the nature of the patterning affect condensation and heat transfer and help to maintain a stable heat flux during condensation phase-changes. This will require parametric and methodological studies and by answering questions like these, you will be pushing the boundaries of knowledge in this field and kick-start your postgraduate career.

We expect that you will have a good degree in Engineering or Physics with an experimental and modelling background. We are particularly interested to hear from applicants with experience in surface science, fluids dynamics and fluid mechanics and/or phase change.

If successful, you will become a member of the Wetting, Interfacial Sciences and Engineering WISE Group within the Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids at the School of Engineering. You will join a vibrant community of PhD students, postdoctoral research associates and academics working in various aspects of surfaces and wetting, and will develop as a scientist benefiting from our track record, which includes publications in top journals, international collaborations and contributions to key international conferences.

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in Engineering or Physics with an experimental and modelling background, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. We are particularly interested to hear from applicants with experience in surface science, fluids dynamics and fluid mechanics and/or phase change.

Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere.

Further information and other funding options.

The interaction of droplets with structured surfaces is extremely important in microfluidics, with target applications in medical diagnostics, self-assembly and printing. In this project you will study the dynamic interactions of droplets with structured solid surfaces coated by a thin liquid lubricant layer. Depending on your skills and interests, you will tackle questions about the fluid dynamics of this system using experimental/computational approaches, or a combination of both.

If successful, you will become a member of the Wetting, Interfacial Sciences and Engineering Group within the Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids at the School of Engineering. You will join a vibrant community of PhD students, postdoctoral research associates and academics working in various aspects of surfaces and wetting, and will develop as a scientist benefiting from our track record, which includes publications in top journals, international collaborations and contributions to key international conferences.

Informal queries can be directed to Dr Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar (Rodrigo.ledesma@ed.ac.uk)

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree.

We expect that you will have a good degree in Engineering or Physics with an experimental or computational modelling background. We are particularly interested to hear from applicants with experience in surfaces and fluid mechanics.

Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere.

Further information and other funding options.

Friction is a key limiting factor affecting the motion of liquids in contact with solid surfaces. When water droplets interact with a solid surface, friction can severely limit the speed at which they move, or hamper their motion altogether. Fundamentally, friction between droplets and solid forces is an open field of research in fluid mechanics, with important applications in a range of fields, from microfluidics to self-cleaning and heat transfer.  

Recently, we have initiated research on the interaction between droplets and liquid-like surfaces. These are surfaces created by grafting polymer chains to a solid substrate, thus creating an ultrasmooth surface. In this project you will study the dynamics of droplets on patterned LLS, where a surface topography, or a chemical pattern, is applied. The scope of the project will be experimental, theoretical, or a combination of both, depending on your specific skill set. By addressing the questions of this project, you will be pushing the boundaries of knowledge in this new field and kick-start your postgraduate career.

If successful, you will become a member of the Wetting, Interfacial Sciences and Engineering Group within the Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids at the School of Engineering. You will join a vibrant community of PhD students, postdoctoral research associates and academics working in various aspects of surfaces and wetting, and will develop as a scientist benefiting from our track record, which includes publications in top journals, international collaborations and contributions to key international conferences.

The following academic team will be part of your supervision team:

Principal supervisor:Rodrigo Ledesma Aguilar: https://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/about/people/dr-rodrigo-ledesma-aguilar

Assistant supervisors:Gary Wells: https://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/about/people/dr-gary-wellsProfessor Glen McHale: https://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/about/people/professor-glen-mchale

Informal queries can be directed to Dr Rodrigo Ledesma-Aguilar (Rodrigo.ledesma@ed.ac.uk)

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree.

We expect that you will have a good degree in Engineering or Physics with an experimental and/or modelling background. We are particularly interested to hear from applicants with experience in surfaces and fluid mechanics.

Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere.

Further information and other funding options.

Food texture is related to the way our senses perceive and feel the rheological and mechanical properties of edible substances. For example a potato chip is crispy; an apple is crunchy; butter is soft; bread is firm; candy is hard; yogurt is smooth; cream is thick; cake is moist, and honey is sticky. Food texture is critical for the consumer and impacts on a product’s market share. It is affected by the composition, manufacturing process, storage conditions and aging. It impacts the final quality and nutrition value of the food product. Food industry strives to improve texture while enhancing the product’s nutritional value and health benefits. For example, healthy oleogels can be used in substitution of harmful trans/saturated fats while retaining the sense of a “mouthful” product.

Texture is complex to quantify, as it is the result of interplay of the food mechanical and rheological properties as physically sensed in the mouth. It is the result of the complex movement of chewing involving our jaws, teeth, and tongue, and the combined comminution (particle size distribution change) and gradual dissolution of substances in saliva.

This project aims to develop and combine mechanical and rheological testing methodologies that will characterize texture rapidly and reliably, in real time, during the manufacturing and storage period. The experimental program will be complemented by state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methodologies in order to correlate improved texture with optimized manufacturing and storage processes.

The ideal candidate will combine strong experimental and computational skills, an interest in food science and engineering, mechanics, rheology and numerical methods/software (e.g., MATLAB, Python).

https://vasileioskoutsos.wixsite.com/softmaterials

www.eng.ed.ac.uk/about/people/dr-dimitrios-i-gerogiorgis

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity. Please see details here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

An undergraduate degree in Chemical/Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related area (Physics, Chemistry), with a strong background in computational modelling.

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree.

Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere

Further information and other funding options.

The wetting behaviours of liquids on solid surfaces play an important role for a wide range of engineering applications, including coatings, electronics, oil recovery, microfluidics, and inkjet printing. For many of these applications, the key challenge is to control the static and dynamic wettability of a given substrate against various liquids. To achieve such control, especially over the full range of wettability landscape, surface chemistry, while crucial, is inadequate by itself. Recent works have shown that novel surfaces with exceptional wetting properties (often termed as superwettability) can be designed by introducing roughness, lubrication, chemical heterogeneities, and tuning the elasticity of the substrate.

The underlying theme of this PhD project is to study the rich interplay between fluid flow dynamics, surface chemistry, geometry, roughness, and solid elasticity in the context of wetting phenomena. Depending on the interests of the student, they can focus on modelling or combine modelling and experiments to develop engineering design principles for structured surfaces with superwettability properties. We will consider both model surfaces with regular patterns (e.g., posts, holes) and non-ideal, industrially relevant substrates (e.g., complex fibres, meshes). This project will also involve collaborations with our international experimental and industrial partners, Dr.-Ing. Hutomo Suryo Wasisto (Infineon Technologies AG, Germany) and Prof. Kuwat Triyana (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia), to explore how these design principles can be exploited for applications in microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and sensor technologies.

It is expected that the applicant will have a good degree in Engineering, Physics, Mathematics, or any other related subject. We are particularly keen to hear from applicants who want to develop expertise in fluids, surfaces, and/or simulations using high performance computing. Prior experience in any of these areas is useful but not a necessity to apply.

The student will join Prof Halim Kusumaatmaja’s group which will move to the Institute for Multiscale Thermofliuds at the University of Edinburgh in May 2024. The student will also benefit from a vibrant community of PhD students, postdoctoral research associates and academics working in various aspects of surfaces and wetting in Edinburgh.

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity. Please see details here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

Further information about Prof Halim Kusumaatmaja’s group can be found in: https://sites.google.com/site/kusumaatmaja/home 

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere.

Further information and other funding options.

In the next decade, distributed sensor network systems made of small flying sensors, from dust-scale to insect-scale, will enable a step change in monitoring natural disasters and remote areas. They will contribute to protecting the environment by providing data on the contamination of physical and biological systems and the impact of human activities. To date, a key limitation of this technology is that small sensors can remain airborne only for a few tens of minutes.

By contrast, some natural flyers, such as the dandelion fruit, travel unpowered for days and hundreds of kilometres. Recent Edinburgh research revealed the aerodynamics underlying the extraordinary flight ability of the dandelion, including the energy scavenging mechanisms that allow it to regain altitude at every wind gust. The present project aims to exploit these aerodynamic findings to enable a step change in the endurance and range of flying sensors. The candidate will design and test an ultra-light (c.a. 1 mg) insect-scale bioresorbable flyer with sensing and communication capabilities in a bespoke wind tunnel.

The successful applicant will work in an Edinburgh team of about ten researchers, including PhD students, postdoctoral research associates, and technicians. These researchers contribute to the design of this novel technology through numerical simulations, experiments, and theoretical model development. The Edinburgh team also collaborates closely with several overseas research leaders who undertake complementary projects and advise on the team's activities.

Successful applicants should have a bachelor’s degree in engineering or equivalent experience and be passionate about microtechnology and robotics, or aerodynamics; the project will be tailored to the specific field of interest of the student.

The position will remain open until a successful applicant is identified. For informal enquiries, please email Dr Jawahar Sivabharathy Samuthira Pandi, jsamuthi@ed.ac.uk. We aim to reply to all informal enquiries within 10 working days. 

 For more information, visit https://voilab.eng.ed.ac.uk/home 

https://VOILAb.eng.ed.ac.uk

The University of Edinburgh is committed to equality of opportunity for all its staff and students, and promotes a culture of inclusivity. Please see details here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/equality-diversity

Minimum entry qualification - an Honours degree at 2:1 or above (or International equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering discipline, possibly supported by an MSc Degree. Further information on English language requirements for EU/Overseas applicants.

Applications are welcomed from self-funded students, or students who are applying for scholarships from the University of Edinburgh or elsewhere.

For more information on funding opportunities, please visit here: https://eng.ed.ac.uk/studying/degrees/postgraduate-research/phd-scholarships