Research Assistant/Associate in Lifecycle Testing using AI

Salary: Research Assistant: £32,546 - £34,132 per annum

            Research Associate: £35,116 - £45,413 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 07 April 2025

 The Role

Join Newcastle University and GKN Automotive in a pioneering UKRI-funded project to develop a groundbreaking electric propulsion system for next-generation electric vehicles. We're seeking a highly motivated Research Assistant/Associate to contribute to the design of a bespoke, magnet-less automotive electric drive.

Your expertise will be crucial in tackling the challenge of time-consuming sideshaft testing. As a key member of the team, you will apply cutting-edge machine learning and deep learning techniques to dramatically reduce testing cycles. You will lead life cycle analyses, implement advanced health monitoring strategies, and deliver data-driven design recommendations, directly impacting the efficiency and reliability of future electric powertrains.

You must have experience working in industry or academia, hold a PhD in AI with a background in mechanical systems and lifetime analysis (for the Research Associate Role you will have similar technical knowledge and show a PhD completion date by the end of this year). You have a proven track record of delivering projects on time, liaising with project partners and collaborators effectively, disseminating research findings at major conferences and journals, and playing an active role in securing further funding. You must also be an excellent communicator with good interpersonal skills.

GKN Automotive is a Tier 1 leader in the automotive sector with over 3 million electric drives sold. The Electrical Power Group at Newcastle University is UK's largest academic research group in Electrical Power, involved in activities from Nano Watts to Giga Watts. We are well known for our high level of industrial engagement and our state-of-the-art laboratories.

This position is available from 1 April 2025, is full time (37 hours per week) on a fixed term basis until the end of June 2026.

Informal enquiries may be addressed to Prof Volker Pickert via email: volker.pickert@ncl.ac.uk

For more information about the School of Engineering and our research, please click here

Key Accountabilities

• Conduct research in the field of reducing life cycle tests using AI
• Conduct research in the field of health monitoring of mechanical systems
• Securing all resources necessary to undertake research
• Managing research work and the efficient use of resources
• Manage various research activities simultaneously
• Ensuring project plans are completed and reviewed
• Monitoring project progress and deliver results within given schedules
• Providing regular research project performance update reports to the management

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Extensive experience in developing and utilizing different machine learning and deep learning techniques
• Experience in health monitoring of mechanical systems
• Knowledge in the construction of mechanical systems, ideally in sideshafts
• Expert in testing, collection of data, data interpretation and statistics
• Ability to work in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team
• Must have several years of work experience either in academia or in industry
• Experience in using Python and MATLAB
• Demonstrable understanding of material behaviour in particular under mechanical and thermal stress
• The ability to build prototypes, experimentation on systems and bench test
• Experience of, or exposure to article publications in high profile journals
• Experience of, or exposure to the dissemination of research outputs to a range of audiences in a variety of formats and settings (e.g. peers, students, public; journal papers, conferences and web material)

Desirable

• Good understanding of the dynamic of rotating parts
• Good understanding in electric drives
• Understanding on manufacturing
• Very good communications, writing and negotiation skills
• Demonstrate teaching skills
• Knowledge in proposal writing

Attributes and Behaviour

• Good inter-personal skills and the ability to liaise with local and international stakeholders (government, industry, general public) as a representative of the University

• Experience of, or exposure to presenting and explaining research outputs in different ways to different stakeholders
• Willingness to travel locally, nationally or internationally at the discretion of the Principal Investigator
• Ability to work independently, and flexibly as part of multi-disciplinary team
• Ability to work with a diverse stakeholder group including industry, academia and other partners
• Committed to embedding the values of equality and diversity in all aspects of your work
• Potential for leadership in research and innovation

Qualifications

• PhD awarded (for the position as Research Associate). The subject of the PhD must be on AI applied to mechanical systems
• Demonstrate that PhD will be awarded (for the position as Research Assistant) The subject of the PhD must be on AI applied to mechanical system
• Engineering honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver  Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 27976