Postdoctoral Research Associate in Magnetic Crankshaft

The Role and Department

The Department of Engineering consistently stands as one of the foremost engineering departments in the UK, renowned for its exceptional performance in teaching, research, and the successful career paths of its students. Its impressive achievements include an 4^th rank in the Complete University Guide 2025, 6^th in the Guardian University Guide 2025, and 6^th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 for Engineering in the UK. The Department also secured a position within the top six UK departments in the REF 2021 assessment, with an outstanding publicati on rating of 4* and 3*. The Department proudly holds an Athena SWAN Silver Award, a testament to its dedication to promoting diversity amongst STEM academics, and fostering a nurturing and encouraging atmosphere. The individual taking up this position will become a part of the (TE) Node within the Department of Engineering. The TE node is a multidisciplinary research node consisting of staff dedicated to embedding thermal energy systems research at the heart of international efforts, and tackling the challenges of achieving net-zero and addressing energy related causes of climate change.

The Role

We are looking to recruit a Postdoctoral Research Associate on a 6 month fixed-term project to join our team at the Department of Engineering, TE node, to work on the Magnetic Crankshaft (MC) Coupling to a Hydrogen Linear Free Piston Engine (LFPE) project, with a particular emphasis on design, manufacture, assembly and experimental tests of the MC and then the whole MC-LFPE system. The research project is led by Professor Yaodong Wang. The successful candidate will help develop such a new prototype MC which can be coupled with the LFPE. The project is being carried out in collaboration with an SME, and the PDRA is expected to visit them regularly.

The successful candidate should show initiative and independent thinking, possess excellent communication and organisational skills, and have the ability to work effectively both individually and as part of a team. The candidate will be expected to independently develop the components of the MC, and assemb le them to form a functional MC; then couple the MC to a LFPE. Understanding of electrical motors / generators and knowledge of electrical / mechanical engineering are essential requirements.

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