For the aviation sector to meet its climate-neutrality targets, conventional methods for the design of aircraft structures and components no longer suffice. Artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are promising alternatives for exploring the design space efficiently and for expanding it. As a postdoc at the TU Delft Department of Aerospace Structures and Materials, you will use generative design algorithms to leverage the full potential of aerospace structures. In your research, you will focus on lightweighting of structural components and their assemblies without compromising performance.

Your research will be part of the EU-funded Caelestis project. This project is geared to developing an interlinked system able to execute massive calculations and predictions across the aviation value chain. Working with the sector’s leading industrial and academic partners, you will develop tools to accelerate the design and topology optimisation of structural aerospace components. Using novel computational graphs representing the structures, you will reparameterize the design space efficiently and develop methods to accelerate the simulation phase, which increasingly replaces experiments. By doing so, you will play a crucial role in the manufacturing of such components, reducing the uncertainties of the product and extend their lifecycle.

The Aerospace Manufacturing Technologies group will be your home base. An internationally diverse team of over 25 academic staff, postdocs and PhD students, we share a drive to harness fundamental and applied research to develop sustainable materials and structures. Ours is a friendly, collaborative environment and you will get all the support and training you need to advance your career.      

Thriving on taking the lead in interdisciplinary, applied research, you exploit the potential of generative design approaches. You also know how to organise and manage your research project. To inspire and convince partners and other stakeholders, you put your communication skills to good use. And you embrace collaboration and teamwork to achieve meaningful results, for which you will be accountable.  

You also have:

• A PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Materials Science, Physics or another relevant subject.
• Strong computational skills and experience of simulation.
• Experience of topology optimisation and computational mechanics.
• A coding background and experience of, or the willingness to learn about, deep learning, graph neural networks and their applications in physical sciences.
• A good command of spoken and written English, as you’ll be working in an internationally diverse community and with international partners.

Fixed-term contract: 2 years.

Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities. The TU Delft offers a customisable compensation package, a discount on health insurance and sport memberships, and a monthly work costs contribution. Flexible work schedules can be arranged.

For international applicants we offer the Coming to Delft Service and Partner Career Advice to assist you with your relocation. An International Children's Centre offers childcare and there is an international primary school.

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology is built on strong foundations. As creators of the world-famous Dutch waterworks and pioneers in biotech, TU Delft is a top international university combining science, engineering and design. It delivers world class results in education, research and innovation to address challenges in the areas of energy, climate, mobility, health and digital society. For generations, our engineers have proven to be entrepreneurial problem-solvers, both in business and in a social context.

At TU Delft we embrace diversity as one of our core values and we actively engage to be a university where you feel at home and can flourish. We value different perspectives and qualities. We believe this makes our work more innovative, the TU Delft community more vibrant and the world more just. Together, we imagine, invent and create solutions using technology to have a positive impact on a global scale. That is why we invite you to apply. Your application will receive fair consideration.

Challenge. Change. Impact!

Faculty Aerospace Engineering

The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology is one of the world’s most highly ranked (and most comprehensive) research, education and innovation communities devoted entirely to aerospace engineering. More than 200 science staff, around 270 PhD candidates and close to 3000 BSc and MSc students apply aerospace engineering disciplines to address the global societal challenges that threaten us today, climate change without doubt being the most important. Our focal subjects: sustainable aerospace, big data and artificial intelligence, bio-inspired engineering and smart instruments and systems. Working at the faculty means working together. With partners in other faculties, knowledge institutes, governments and industry, both aerospace and non-aerospace. Working in field labs and innovation hubs on our university campus and beyond. 

Click here to go to the website of the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering.