Post Doctoral Research Associate in Wind Energy Control

Role: Post Doctoral Research Associate in Wind Energy Control

Contract Type: Full time (35 hours per week), Fixed Term for 3 years

Grade and Salary: Grade 7 - £38,448 - £48,337 per annum

Holiday Entitlement: 33 days annual leave plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday)

The successful candidate will work with Dr Stock and his team at Heriot-Watt University (HWU) in the CONFORMABLE (Control for Main Bearing Lifetime Extension) project. This project will characterise and quantify control impacts on main bearing lives in order to develop novel wind turbine and wind farm controllers that extend main bearing lifetimes and reduce Levelised Cost of Energy.

• To provide a detailed quantification of impacts of partial wakes (and similar asymmetric inflow phenomena) on MB loads, fatigue life, wear and maintenance for offshore wind turbines in large wind farms and, hence, quantify impacts on LCOE.
• To develop wind turbine controllers that improve MB loads, fatigue life, wear-rate and maintenance requirements in partial wakes and other asymmetric inflow conditions.
• To develop wind farm controllers that optimise LCOE impacts of wake impingement by extending the current paradigm to include the cost implications of MB failures.

Whilst the HWU role will focus on the second and third aims, this project will be highly collaborative and inter-disciplinary, and the ability to work across both themes of main bearing science and control will be necessary.

The project has diverse project partners, including SKF, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR, formerly NREL). It is expected that the chosen candidate will be a key contact with these partners.

Communication of project outputs is critical, and the successful candidate will be expected to write journal papers on technical topics, present work at both academic and industrial conferences, and run webinars, workshops and a hackathon across the lifetime of the project.

• Conduct and disseminate original research aligned with the project and in collaboration with the team
• Work closely with the project team to ensure timely completion of deliverables in line with the project plan.
• Work as part of the broader team, including collaborators at University of Strathclyde and industrial partners, to shape the research work as needed
• Contribute to outreach and impact engagement activities of the project (including workshops, webinars and a hackathon)
• Prepare, write and submit academic publications based on the research work.
• Demonstrate initiative in making routine decisions in order to manage and achieve project deliverables and deadlines
• Participate in, and develop, networks and collaborations both internally and externally to the project team.
• Any other duties, commensurate with the grade of the post

• PhD in relevant discipline
• 1st class undergraduate degree (preferably in Physics)

• Experience researching renewable energy technologies
• Experience in the fields of optimisation and control of renewable energy devices
• Experience of working within a larger project team on funded research projects
• Evidence of good project management skills
• Evidence of self-motivation and the ability to work independently
• Evidence of excellent oral and written communication skills
• Excels and enjoys applying physics and engineering theory in an inter-disciplinary manner

• Excellent inter-personal skills
• Experience in supporting teaching activities
• Experience in programming languages including Python and MATLAB

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