Post doc in Thermal Spray Technologies

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is University West’s overarching profile and basic principle applied to learning, the exchange of ideas, and educational development. The government has assigned the distinguished task of developing WIL to University West. Work integrated learning in education and research develops new, relevant and advanced knowledge both within the academy and among its partners, which also benefits society in general. University West offers a wide variety of study programs, has a good number of applicants and the students show a high entry rate on the labor market. The main research environments at University West are Production technology, Learning in and for the new working life and Child and youth studies and is conducted in collaboration with the surrounding society. Campus is centrally located in Trollhättan with about 15,000 students and 675 employees.




The Thermal Spray Group at University West is now actively seeking applications from outstanding and highly motivated PhDs to fill a post doc position that will primarily straddle ongoing projects within the group but will also allow the selected candidate the freedom to simultaneously explore his/her own interests in complementary fields.

Role Description
The candidate eventually selected for this full-time position will be expected to actively contribute to ongoing projects dealing with development of wear-resistant, corrosion-resistant and thermal barrier coatings by High Velocity Air-Fuel (HVAF) and Suspension Plasma Spray (SPS) routes. The candidate will participate in development/preparation of feedstock materials, production of coatings and investigations of coating properties relevant to the projects. As the hands-on technical lead for the projects, the candidate’s role will involve, but not be restricted to, the following:

- Planning of experiments, including construction of design of experiments’ matrix to investigate effect of various spray process variables and finalizing specimen geometries
- Establishing characterization and performance assessment protocols
- Participating in spraying experiments
- Conduct and/or be responsible for characterization and performance evaluation of coatings
- Conduct and/or be responsible for failure analysis of coatings
- Analysis and interpretation of data
- Writing and/or guiding students to write journal manuscripts
- Explore collaborations to complement processing & characterization capabilities at University West.

The selected candidate will also have the opportunity to participate in our group's investigations on coatings with exciting function-dependent architectures that can be realized utilizing hybrid powder-liquid feedstocks. Some of our other activities on the anvil include solution precursor plasma spraying (SPPS) and development of coatings for targeted functionalities (photocatalytic, biocompatible, luminescent etc.)

Qualifications
Candidates applying for the Post doc position should ideally have a PhD degree in Mechanical or Metallurgical Engineering. Applicants with a PhD in any other branch of Engineering/Science shall also be considered if they possess appropriate experience. The position is mainly for applicants who have achieved a PhD degree not more than three years before the application deadline.

The position demands a technical background in and skills related to:
- Processing of thermal spray coatings (APS, SPS, HVOF, HVAF)
- Characterization of coatings (morphology, microstructure, phase constitution)
- Performance evaluation of coatings
- Investigation of failure mechanisms
- Good publication record
- Good written & oral communication skills in English

Documented ability to independently plan and carry out experiments, as well as analyze and publish results, is expected. Hands-on experience with characterization techniques (such as optical & scanning electron microscopy, image analysis, microhardness measurement etc.) is a must. As at least some of the experiments are expected to be conducted in close collaboration with other research groups and with industry, we are looking for a good team-player with an amicable disposition to cooperate with project partners.

The following skills will be meritorious:
- Tribological evaluation of surfaces (sliding/erosion/abrasion wear & COF testing, failure analysis)
- Prior experience in oxidation/corrosion/thermal cycling/thermal shock testing
- Background in investigating failure mechanisms in coatings
- Data processing, evaluation and interpretation
- Project leadership
- Supervision of students
- International research and collaborative project experience

Assessment criteria
Special importance will be given to scientific skills in the subject field. In addition, the degree of proficiency in supervising PhD and Master student projects within thermal spray will be assessed. Furthermore, the degree of skill in developing and leading new Thermal spray-related technical activities at the university will be considered.

Terms of employment
The employment will be full-time for a duration of one year.

Other
In the selection process, presentation of assigned technical tasks, interviewing and referencing may be relevant. For information about the design of the application, see guidelines for the employment and promotion of teachers at the University West: https://www.hv.se/en/meet-university-west/job-opportunities/

The documents that cannot be sent digitally, such as books and publications; should be labelled with reference number R 2020/52 and sent in two copies.

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

Deadline for application is 2020-03-31.

In case of questions about the position, please contact Prof. Shrikant Joshi at: shrikant.joshi@hv.se.

We decline any direct contact with the staffing and recruitment companies as well as recruitment advertisers.

University West actively works for an inclusive work environment with equal conditions and values the qualities that diversity adds to the business.