PRR Project

Summary

The Adjunct Professor in digital fabrication and engineered materials will develop his activities at the School of Design, Management and Production Technologies of University of Aveiro (ESAN), a polytechnic school integrated in the University of Aveiro, fully devoted to manufacturing technologies, design and product development, industrial organization as well as to information and communication systems. ESAN researchers are part of CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, which is one of the best ranked Portuguese research units in the field of materials science and nanotechnology. Therefore, the prospective adjunct professor will undertake a vital role across different activities, involving research, outreach and teaching tasks that will be detailed as follow. Research tasks – encompass the development of tailored materials’ formulations (spanning from hard to soft materials) to be processed by additive manufacturing technologies towards the progress of cutting-edge products for ongoing technological and societal challenges. The researcher should plan and conduct research tasks to investigate materials’ formulations with fine-tuned compositions and physico-chemical properties for additive manufacturing; processing them via suitable manufacturing technologies (SLA, DLP, BJ, SLS, SLM and DED) into customized high-added value products and evaluation of their mechanical properties and performance according to their applications. As these research activities underpin the CICECO research thematic lines, the candidate should create synergies across the interdisciplinary CICECO research teams, aimed at fostering innovation following CICECO mission and vision.Other research activities will also encompassthe participation in grant writing and fundraising efforts, aimed at supporting the research activities and ensure the CICECO/ESAN research infrastructures;mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students in research projects, and supervision of MSc and PhD students in areas involving materials and additive manufacturing;presentation of research findings at national and international conferences and symposia to disseminate knowledge, exchange ideas and fostering collaborations across different countries;publication of research results in articles at high-ranked journals, creating cutting-edge knowledge in emerging technologies and advanced manufacturing; andfostering industry connections for collaborative research and technology transfer. Outreach activities – according to its actuation areas, ESAN has an extensive collaboration network with municipalities, associations, technological and educational centres and industry partners. Therefore, the selected candidate should plan engagement strategies to promote awareness of the digital fabrication to foster partnership with industries by addressing practical challenges towards societal needs. These outreach activities to be assigned to the prospective employee are also fully aligned with the mission and vision of the associate lab CICECO whose ESAN belongs. Teaching task – lectures, laboratory classes or hands-on workshops based on the ongoing research developments in novel processing and manufacturing technologies intertwined with industry 4.0 principles.Therefore, the selected candidate should:have proven expertise in materials’ formulations and characterization, materials’ processing, and manufacturing technologies;demonstrate a track record of publications in peer-reviewed journals related to the subject;have experience in the preparation of research proposals to secure fundings for scientific and technological activities;have proven participation in national and European funded projects;demonstrate proficiency in project management;have internationalization experience;have experience in mentoring of undergraduate and graduate students in research projects, including supervision of MSc and PhD students in academic and non-academic environments.As advanced manufacturing technologies and materials are mutually interdependent, mutually intertwined with industry 4.0 principles, the key rationale behind this position is to reinforce the ESAN actuation areas (materials | technology | product development) as well as strengthen CICECO competencies in the rapidly evolving field of digital fabrication, thus keep being at the forefront of innovation, working to provide cutting-edge solution in attempts to solve real societal challenges.