PhD Studentship: Additively manufactured acoustic meta materials

About the project

Vision: Inspired by space folding acoustic metamaterials and rainbow trapping acoustic metamaterials we aim to build a new class of hybrid metamaterials that can reshape and transform acoustic modes and create novel boundary conditions that give rise to unusual properties. This will allow the arbitrary conversion of one acoustic mode into another so that acoustic energy may be confined, redirected or focused. Transforming energy from one mode to another has many practical uses but it can be very difficult to achieve. With the advent of new manufacturing techniques such as additive manufacturing / 3d printing we can imagine new metamaterial structures that can do this task for us.

The basic science is still in its infancy but there are many practical uses for this technology, for instance, new ultrasound probes that allow us to probe materials in new ways, for new medical devices for diagnostics or treatment, for vibration isolation to create acoustic barriers or for micro-harvesting energy for autonomous electronics.

Aim: Develop new additively manufactured acoustic metal materials for a range of applications. Develop the theory to allow design of new devices to be made, while constructing instrumentation to allow the performance of the devices to be measured.

What we offer:

• A world-class multidisciplinary research environment, spanning optics, ultrasonics, manufacturing and AI.
• A supportive culture for researchers as signatories of the Researcher Development Concordat (www.vitae.ac.uk/policy/concordat)
• A chance to learn new skills: optics, ultrasonics, instrumentation, coding, manufacturing.
• The opportunity to produce high-quality publications.
• Travel to attend conferences.

What you should have:

• 1st or 2.1 honours undergraduate or master's degree in Engineering, Physics, or similar
• Enthusiasm for hands-on experiments
• Coding abilities in any language (e.g. Python or MATLAB or C/C++)
• Excellent communication skills
• The ability to work collaboratively in a team across disciplines

Deadline:  30-09-2024. Please contact Dr Richard Smith or Prof. Matt Clark if you are interested in applying at Richard.j.smith@nottingham.ac.uk or matt.clark@nottingham.ac.uk  Note that studentship funding is for UK students via an internal competition and is therefore only confirmed sometime after the admission application is approved.

Our university is a supportive, inclusive and caring community and we encourage applications from a diverse range of backgrounds. The Faculty of Engineering was the first in the UK to be awarded an Athena SWAN Gold Award, in recognition of our commitment to supporting and advancing women’s careers in Engineering.

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