Research Fellow in Engineering

The Thermal Fluids and Energy research group at the University of Dublin, Trinity College, is seeking to recruit a postdoctoral researcher to develop hierarchical porous capillary wicking structures using additive manufacturing and nanostructuring for two-phase heat transfer and heat pipe applications. Potential fabrication techniques include 3D metal printing, electrodeposition, and other relevant porous structure development techniques. Nanostructuring and surface engineering will be implemented to augment porous media wettability. The developed porous wicking structure will be incorporated into a loop heat pipe and two-phase mechanically pumped loop device. Condensation, passive fluid transport and water harvesting applications will also be considered where suitable.

This research aims to develop novel hybrid porous wicking structures for heat transfer and passive fluid transport applications. The objectives of this project are: 

(i) Literature review of potential innovative Additive Manufacturing approaches for controlled porous structure fabrication for heat transfer and passive fluid transport applications. 

(ii) Fabrication of porous structure using additive manufacturing. 

(iii) Porous structure surface engineering wettability augmentation using nanostructuring. 

(iv) Characterisation of developed porous wicking structures using material science techniques (SEM, FIB, White light, Contact Angle, among others) and thermo fluid characterisation (Rate of Rise, Boiling and Condensation). 

This work is part of a larger project developing loop heat pipe technology for waste heat recovery in data centres as part of an ongoing Royal Society-Science Foundation Ireland-funded project.