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EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is one of the most dynamic university campuses in Europe and ranks among the top 20 universities worldwide. The EPFL employs more than 6,500 people supporting the three main missions of the institutions: education, research and innovation. The EPFL campus offers an exceptional working environment at the heart of a community of more than 17,000 people, including over 12,500 students and 4,000 researchers from more than 120 different countries.

PhD in Gas Bearing Supported Turbomachinery for Heat Pumps

Mission

The Laboratory for Applied Mechanical Design (Prof. Schiffmann) is leading the TurboHeat project, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, to improve heat pump energy efficiency by 20-25% using small-scale, gas-bearing-supported turbocompressors for HVAC systems. The project addresses key design and control challenges at small scales.

Main duties and responsibilities

As a PhD Student, you will be expected to:

  • Have full responsibility for your own dissertation
  • Research in close collaboration with industry partners
  • Experiment design and execution ;
  • Analyze and interpret experimental results;
  • Write scientific articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals;
  • Present at international conferences.
  • Supervise student projects and basic administrative support

 

More specifically, within this project, you will:

  • Create a fast framework for the automated design and constrained optimization of gas-bearing supported turbocompressors focusing on maximizing performance and robustness,
  • Work on the design and impact of flexibly supported bushings on the rotordynamic behavior of gasbearing supported rotors to enhance the rotordynamic performance, and resilience to external shocks, vibrations & manufacturing deviations,
  • Work on he dynamic modeling of turbocompressor driven heat pumps.

Profile

  • Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering or Computational Science (completed or are in the process of completing)
  • A solid scientific background in (1) turbomachinery aerodinamics,  (2) modeling approaches for dynamic systems, (3) model order reduction techniques, (4) heat pumps and (5) experimental methods.
  • Good communication skills and willingness to work as part of a team
  • Enthusiasm, scientific curiosity, eager to learn, good organizational skills, rigor in experimental work
  • High level of motivation for academic research work
  • Good communication skills (written and oral) in English are a must. French is a plus.

We offer

  • 4 years to complete your PhD with a competitive remuneration
  • A world-class research and training environment with access to state-of-the-art research facilities;
  • A multi-cultural and stimulating work environment.

Informations

Your application should contain:

  • Motivation Letter
  • Detailed CV
  • Contact information
  • At least 2 references willing to write a recommendation letter.
  • List of publication.

 

Application deadline: 31.12.2024.  Only applications submitted through the online platform are considered.


For more information, please contact: jurg.schiffmann@epfl.ch

If you are successful, you will need to enroll in one of the EPFL doctoral school programs.

 

Contract Start Date : As soon as possible

Contract Type: 1-year fixed-term contract (CDD), renewable for 4 years.










Apply now »