Project Science Summer Placement - STFC
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- Early Careers
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- Feb 03, 2021 Post Date
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- 2100002H Requisition #
Science and Technology Facilities Council
Part of STFC, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UKATC) is the UK's national laboratory for the design and development of astronomical instrumentation. The UKATC has a rich heritage of instrumentation development for ground-based observatories as well as space facilities. It employs a broad spectrum of engineers and scientists across the full range of disciplines required for contemporary astronomy (optical design, mechanical engineering, electronics, software, systems engineering, project management). It also has an extensive track record of successfully applying techniques and technologies developed for astronomy to other sectors (e.g. earth observation/remote sensing, environmental monitoring). The UKATC develops instruments for world leading organisations, such as the European Southern Observatory (ESO) the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA.
Summary of Key Duties & Responsibilities
Investigating the use of additively manufactured (AM; 3D printing) parts/materials for astronomical components is an important step to introduce the new design freedom that AM offers. Materials, such as aluminium, copper, ceramics and high performance polymers, all have potential uses in future astronomical instruments. In the role you will support the on-going activities in material properties testing and data analysis of AM parts.
Duties include:
- Performing laboratory-based material properties testing – such as outgassing and thermal conductivity tests.
- Performing dimensional metrology to investigate the quality of the AM test samples relative to the original design file.
- Assisting in the design and production of AM test samples.
- Analysis and the creation of graphical representations of the experimental data.
- Documentation of the experiments, analysis and conclusion for the STFC AM community.
Being a laboratory based position, this will be based onsite at UKATC in Edinburgh. If restrictions permit due to the pandemic, the position will be changed to remote working from home and the topic/duties may change from what is currently advertised.
In order to apply for this role you must have:
Essential:
- Are in full time education at university and returning to university following the placement.
- The right to live and work in the UK for the duration of the placement which is 8-12 weeks
- Enrolled on a physical sciences or engineering undergraduate degree
- Numerically literate with experience in data analysis.
- An interest in either astronomical instrumentation, space science, 3D printing, or materials science.
- Strong communication (written and spoken), organisational and presentational skills
Desirable
- Laboratory-based experience: best practice skills to ensure accuracy and repeatability in measurements, and appropriate data recording to allow for data analysis
- Experience in a programming language, such as Python or MatLab