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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.

Postdoc in Turbocompressor Driven Heat Pumps

Mission

The TurboHeat project, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, addresses the technical challenges associated with advancing heat pump technology through the integration
of small-scale gas bearing supported turbocompressors. The goal is to improve energy efficiency by 20-25% over existing heat pumps for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
(HVAC) systems in domestic and transport applications. This improvement hinges on addressing critical design and control issues at small scales, where dynamic operating conditions
and manufacturing imperfections pose significant challenges.

Main duties and responsibilities

  • Working and collaborating on the research project in particular, the contributions to this highly interdisciplinary project focus on:
    • 1. The creation of a fast framework for the automated design and constrained optimization of gas-bearing supported turbocompressors focusing on maximizing performance and robustness,
    • 2. 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, and
    • 3. The dynamic modeling of turbocompressor driven heat pumps.
  • We will design, optimize, and manufacture gas bearing supported turbocompressors and test them in a heat pump loop to assess the computational tools developed in this project to improve the energy efficiency of heat pumps.
  • Analysis and publication of results
  • Build a strong network in the field of research
  • Participate in education, and PhD and master student supervision
  • Close collaboration with teams from the Scientific Computing and Uncertainty Quantification Lab (CSQI) and the Laboratoire d'Automatique (LA) at EPFL.

Profile

  • PhD (or nearing completion of) in Mechanical Engineering
  • Background in turbomachinery aerodynamics, heat pumps, modeling approaches for dynamic systems, model order reduction techniques and experimental methods.
  • Strong computational and analytical skills
  • Publication record (relative to your career stage) in internationally leading journals
  • Independent, creative, and solution-oriented
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
  • Strong motivation to explore new research domains
  • Good team spirit

We offer

  • A stimulating and international working environment
  • Competitive salary and excellent working conditions – more information can be found on our website (https://www.epfl.ch/campus/services/human-resources/en/basic-starting-salary-of-doctoral-assistants-and-postdocs/)
  • Opportunity to perform state-of-the-art research in one of the most dynamic scientific institutions in Europe.
  • Opportunity to interact with internationally renowned experts, and with a strong team of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students

Informations

Only applications submitted through the online platform are considered.

 

You are asked to supply:

  • A brief cover letter (pdf, up to 2 pages).

 

And in one PDF format:

  • A CV with a publication list.
  • A research statement (pdf, up to 3 pages).
  • Contact details for 3 referees.

 

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


Contract Start Date : As soon as possible

Activity Rate : 100%

Contract Type: CDD

Duration: 1 year - renewable for up to 4 years

 

 










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