Research Assistant or Associate in Aerostructural Optimisation/Aeroelasticity

Location: South Kensington Campus

About the role:

As the aerospace sector pushes the boundaries of aircraft performance – and sustainable operations – with highly flexible primary structures (such as high-aspect-ratio and morphing wings), accounting for dynamic aeroelastic stability at the early design stage has become essential. However, considering flutter constraints in high-fidelity aerostructural optimisation routines is challenging, primarily because modelling the unsteady aerodynamic effects can be computationally prohibitive. Consequently, many conventional wing aerostructural design frameworks rely only on static aeroelastic metrics, which frequently produces designs that are suboptimal when subjected to real-world dynamic environments. Although a handful of advanced, high-fidelity solvers have been developed to tackle this issue, their application remains narrow and computationally restrictive.

The primary goal of this project is to include flutter constraints early in the aircraft design process. To achieve this, the research will focus on new numerical algorithms that improve the computational efficiency of flutter constraint evaluations. By accelerating these evaluations, we aim to enable rapid flutter assessments, and their dependency with the design parameters, at various points across the entire flight envelope.

What you would be doing:

You will be responsible for incorporating a new, computationally efficient method for evaluating flutter constraints into multidisciplinary design optimisation (MDO) frameworks , specifically focusing on aerostructural optimisation for aircraft wings. This may require the derivations of new formulations, algorithms, or even computational architectures.

What we are looking for:

Research Associate: hold a PhD (or equivalent) in Aerospace Engineering or a closely related discipline.

Research Assistant: A first/masters degree (or equivalent) in Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related discipline.

*Candidates who have not yet been officially awarded their PhD will be appointed as Research Assistant.

The applicant must also be able to demonstrate all the following essential criteria:

• Expertise in aerostructural optimisation/aeroelasticity, and MDO.
• An outstanding, demonstrable background in numerical methods.
• High-quality scientific communication skills
• Ability to work independently and in a team.

What we can offer you:

• The opportunity to advance the capability of aircraft design framework and bridge the gap between theoretical modelling and real-world application, directly accelerating the transition to sustainable aviation
• The opportunity to collaborate with other researchers and experts who are passionate about sustainable aviation
• The opportunity to continue your career at a world-leading institution and be part of our mission to continue science for humanity.
• Grow your career: Gain access to Imperial’s sector-leading dedicated career support for researchers as well as opportunities for promotion and progression
• Sector-leading salary and remuneration package (including 39 days off a year and generous pension schemes).

Further Information

This is a fixed-term position for up to 36 months available immediately; application is open until filled. The successful candidate will be supervised in the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London and will primarily report to Dr Rhea Liem and Professor Rafael Palacios.

If you require any further details on the role please contact: Rhea LIEM – r.liem@imperial.ac.uk

Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities mentioned above.

If you encounter any technical issues while applying online, please don't hesitate to email us at support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk. We're here to help.

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