EngD on Software development for advanced synthetic microstructure generation

The post-master Engineering Doctorate (EngD) program DEES is a two-year salaried program in the field of technological design in Electrical Engineering. The program leads to an Engineering Doctorate degree.

EngD project

Polycrystalline microstructures are widely used for their great tuneability of the material properties. A clear example is the great variation in steel grades, each with a different combination of ductility, strength, etc. These properties result from the underlying complex polycrystalline microstructure. Simulation of artificially generated, 3D synthetic microstructures supports the design of novel steel grades. However, generating these synthetic microstructures is far from trivial. Significant challenges come from the requirements that the crystals should have realistic shapes, their sizes should match a particular grain size distribution, and in multiphase microstructures the volume fractions and morphology of the phases should be controllable.

Project goal

The main objective of the EngD project is to design and implement a software tool which is capable of generating advanced polycrystal geometries in support of the development of novel steel grades. Building on earlier work done at Tata Steel, an advanced multilevel Voronoi tessellation approach will be followed. The existing method (in Visual Basic) is to be re-implemented in Python and extended. The software should be modular, have a graphical as well as a scripting interface and should be extendable, so that it may serve as a platform for further development. As a validation, ensembles of synthetic microstructures mimicking real materials will be generated, which will then be compared on a statistical basis with the real microstructures.

Company sponsor

In association with the Materials innovation institute M2i, Tata Steel will actively support the EngD project and provide knowledge on steel microstructures. The results will also be directly used by Tata Steel to study future (green) steel grades.

Department of Mechanical Engineering

The department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) is one of the nine departments of TU/e and has been a core part of the university since TU/e was founded in 1956. The mission of ME is to carry out long term, generic, world-class research within the mechanical engineering domain on topics that match the technological interests of the high-tech, internationally oriented industry in the Netherlands. Our education and research programs balance fundamental and application aspects, aiming at providing industry with scientifically educated and application-driven engineers who are optimally equipped to address future challenges.

Mechanics of Materials section

The section Mechanics of Materials is one of nine sections within the department of Mechanical Engineering. Its scientific research activities consist in developing experimental analysis, theoretical understanding and predictive modelling for problems in materials engineering. Our projects typically have a multi-scale nature, connecting application-scale material properties to the physics and mechanics of the underlying microstructure. We have an excellently equipped experimental Multiscale Laboratory as well as a state of the art high-performance computing infrastructure.

Candidates for the EngD position should have a Master's degree in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, Applied Physics, Mechanical Engineering, or a cognate discipline, with excellent grades and well-developed analytic skills. A background in software development using Python is essential and some familiarity with Visual Basic is recommended. Candidates should be fluent in spoken and written English.

A meaningful job in a dynamic and ambitious university, in an international setting with a close relationship to industry. You will work on a beautiful, green campus within walking distance of the central train station. In addition, we offer you:

• Full-time employment for two years.
• Salary and benefits (such as a pension scheme, paid pregnancy and maternity leave, partially paid parental leave) in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities, scale TOIO  (€2,618).
• A year-end bonus of 8.3% and annual vacation pay of 8%.
• To support you during your EngD and to prepare you for the rest of your career, you will have free access to a personal development program for EngD trainees.
• An excellent technical infrastructure, on-campus children's day care and sports facilities.
• An allowance for commuting, working from home and internet costs.
• A Staff Immigration Team and a tax compensation scheme (the 30% facility) for international candidates.