Post Doctoral Fellow

Position Overview

KU is seeking an experienced & highly motivated Post-doctoral Fellow to work on a funded project aiming to develop conceptually and to demonstrate numerically new dynamic energy harvesting technology, deployed in slender tall buildings to generate renewable energy from wind-induced building vibrations while reducing the structural self-weight.

The project will specifically explore the feasibility of performance-based bi-objective design of the wind-load resisting structural system of tall slender buildings equipped with novel regenerative vibration absorbers for minimizing construction material use and for maximizing energy generation from wind-induced stresses. Such stresses develop naturally at the structural members of slender buildings and may be transformed into electricity for powering wireless sensors used in building automation and structural health monitoring.

As part of the project, the researcher will get an opportunity to work alongside researchers, external technical consultants, and graduate students from various backgrounds as part of a wider team.

Position Requirements

• Working knowledge with optimization-driven mathematical formulations and their numerical algorithmic solutions as applied in the tuning of dynamic vibration absorbers for minimizing structural vibrations and in the sizing of structural members for minimizing the self-weight and/or the embodied carbon
• Experience with performance-based design and assessment of buildings under dynamic environmental loads using state-of-art finite element modelling and analysis software
• Conduct research on the conceptual design, analytical characterization, and numerical modelling of novel regenerative (energy harvesting enabled) dynamic vibration absorbers for large-scale deployment in building structures  
• Study with due diligence the possibility of extension of analytical and numerical models to practical conceptual design of structural members and dynamic vibration absorbers.
• Develop automated software and numerical routines to facilitate practical weight-optimal building design equipped with regenerative dampers under dynamic environmental loads.
• Contribute to writing grants, journal publications, and attending conferences
• Work independently and in collaboration with senior scientists and graduate students locally and internationally
• Adhere to the University's information security and confidentiality policies and procedures, and report breaches or other security risks accordingly
• Perform any other tasks assigned by the Line Manager