Post doc in friction stir welding - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Production Technology West (PTW) has been a prioritised research environment at University West since 2008. PTW is organized in three divisions (division of welding technology, division of additive and subtractive manufacturing and division of production systems), each with a well-defined research strategy.

The division of welding technology, in particular, is divided into “process development and control”, “welding metallurgy and mechanical characterization” and “process physics, modelling and simulation”, complementing and working synergically with each other. The purpose is to do research on issues of interest to large parts of the welding industry.

Role description:
The candidate eventually selected for this full-time position will be expected to demonstrate a commitment to support the Swedish transportation industry with the development of sustainable manufacturing processes for fabrication of battery-electric vehicles. The candidate will contribute to ongoing projects dealing mainly with friction stir welding (FSW) and related processes. As the hands-on technical lead for the projects, the candidate’s role will involve, but not be restricted to, the following:

• Conduct and/or be responsible for FSW experiments and to propose scientific methodologies according to project objectives.
• Lead collaborative research projects and to establish and strengthen relationships within the Swedish automotive and related manufacturing industries.
• Conduct and/or be responsible for characterization and performance evaluation of the assemblies.
• Conduct and/or collaborate in laboratory classes and other type of education activities.
• Write weld procedure specifications, compliant with relevant international standards. 
• Elaborate design of experiment matrices to investigate and analyse the effect of various process variables.
• Actively participate in the scientific and administrative meetings of the welding division.

Qualifications
Candidates applying for the post doc position must hold a BS degree in engineering or applied physics and have obtained a PhD in welding or material science (or similar). The applicants who have obtained a PhD in three years or less prior to the end of the application deadline will be given priority.

The position also requires:

• Full understanding on operation and application of friction stir welding.
• Basic knowledge of aluminium metallurgy and on welding metallurgy.
• Skill and experience with metallographic characterization techniques (optical microscopy and microhardness measurement).
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English.
• Good collaboration skills. Some of the experiments are expected to be conducted in close collaboration with other research groups and with industry, why we are looking for a good team-player with an amicable disposition to cooperate with partners and colleagues.

The following skills will be considered meritorious:

• Knowledge on physics of the friction stir welding process, its operational parameters, tool design and fixturing requirements.
• Acquaintance with welding quality assurance and most common protocols (WPS, welding personnel and procedure qualifications, etc.) and welding personnel (welding inspector, supervisor, engineers and the related ISO qualifications and certifications).
• Basic understanding on operation and application of related or innovative manufacturing processes (linear friction welding, rotary friction welding, forging, extrusion, arc welding and additive manufacturing).
• Basic understanding of process automation and sensing.
• Basic programming experience for industrial robots and related programming software (e.g. ABB RAPID, RobotStudio, KUKASIM, G-code, 3DExperience).
• Basic programming experience for control systems and process analysis software (e.g. LabVIEW, Matlab).
• Basic knowledge on NDT applied to welding.
• Knowledge on experimental statistics to independently plan and carry out experiments, as well as analyse results.
• Good publication record.
• Project leadership.

Assessment criteria
Special importance will be given to scientific skills in the subject field. In addition, the degree of administrative proficiency will be assessed. Furthermore, the degree of skill in developing and leading technical activities at the university will be considered, as well as the ability to interact with the surrounding community and to inform about research and development work.

The primary assessment criteria for the employment will be the relevance of technical expertise and prior experience that a candidate possesses in order to contribute to the ongoing projects in the area of welding technology within PTW. In particular, candidates with experimental background in FSW process will be preferred, although the theories behind the FSW is compulsory.

Terms of employment
The employment will be full-time for a duration of two years.

Other
In the selection process proofreading, interviewing and referencing may be relevant. The applications should be made digitally using our recruitment tool. For information about the design of the application, please see the guidelines for employment and promotion of teachers at University West: https://www.hv.se/en/meet-university-west/job-opportunities/

Moreover, the candidate should submit a personal letter that contains:

• Interest in the research topic
• Previous experience regarding the proposed research topic and it's research methods and scientific theories.
• Motive to pursue doctoral studies.

Documents that cannot be sent digitally, such as books and publications, should be labelled with reference number R 2019/259 and sent in two copies.

The application is sent to:
Högskolan Väst
HR
461 86 Trollhättan
Sweden

In case of questions about the position, please contact Assoc. Prof. Joel Andersson at: joel.andersson@hv.se.

The application deadline is 2019-12-08.

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