Research Associate in Optimization of Adaptable and Practical Structures

Job description:

Do you want to apply your skills in digital structural design or mathematical optimization to help combat the climate crisis? Join the RAPID Structures project and help us develop the next generation of material-efficient buildings.

We have an exciting new opportunity in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering for a Research Associate, working at the interface between advanced optimization algorithms and structural design. We are seeking a highly motivated and skilled postdoctoral researcher to join our internationally recognised group. You will join an active community of early career researchers working on a range of topics across structural optimization, and who are securely embedded within the wider school. Previous work in the group has produced tools adopted by academia and industry, such as the LayOpt web-apps and the Peregrine plugin for Rhino/Grasshopper, as well as award-winning publications.

The RAPID Structures project addresses key barriers to the uptake of existing methods for finding material-efficient structural forms. Current methods often struggle with problems that involve a large number of possible loading scenarios, where the critical cases are unintuitive or even design-dependent. Furthermore, current approaches often generate highly complex designs which are challenging to realize. We will be developing a framework to address these issues.

You will collaborate with specialist research software engineers, our industry partners, and colleagues in the research group to refine and implement these novel optimization methodologies. You might have expertise in form-finding or topology optimization, and want to explore how mathematical approaches can be used to improve computational performance and obtain globally optimal results. Or, you may be an expert in mathematical optimization who is seeking to use your expertise to generate real impact and build a more sustainable future.

As part of this role:

• You will develop skills in formulating and implementing optimization models for structural engineering problems, particularly addressing issues around constructability and handling problems with many load-cases.
• You will use cutting edge optimization techniques and explore how the characteristics and structure of these problems can be exploited to obtain solutions quickly and reliably.
• You will gain experience in collaborative software development, working with other members of the team to ensure the long-term maintainability of the codes produced.
• You will collaborate with our industry partners to test the tools on practical scenarios, giving the chance to see tangible impact from your work. 
• You will create high quality research outputs including academic papers and practitioner-focussed guidance, you will also have the opportunity to disseminate your work at national and international conferences.

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more.

We build teams of people from different heritages and lifestyles from across the world, whose talent and contributions complement each other to greatest effect. We believe diversity in all its forms delivers greater impact through research, teaching and student experience.

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