Since the beginning of the Science without Borders scheme, Swansea has welcomed many students from Brazil to the multidisciplinary College of Engineering as part of their bachelor degrees.

Due to the success of this scheme, we are now accepting applications from students seeking PhD places in the UK as part of the SWB scheme.

Swansea has a wide range of potential research projects available to suit students holding/completing all branches of Engineering, Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics bachelor degrees.

Engineering at Swansea www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering is a very highly regarded UK Engineering Centre with numerous world-leading academic staff and research groups. We have several fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Swansea is a beautiful coastal campus university offering excellent facilities for students. www.swansea.ac.uk

Projects are available across most of the areas you will find detailed on our website, but are particularly seeking applications in the below areas.

To apply, please contact the academic staff directly with your CV/transcripts and state which areas you are interested in joining

Project Summary of Research Areas and Web link To Apply Nanomedicine In nanomedicine we seek to engineer nanoscale systems for direct diagnosis and treatment of Professor Huw Summers, disease within cells. Through control of physical and chemical aspects of nanoparticles they can [email protected] be introduced within the body and delivered to targeted cells (e.g. cancers) to affect medical http://systemscytometry.org/index.html treatments at the molecular level. Projects are available in particle characterisation, study of bio- nano interactions and computational and mathematical modelling of nanoscale drug therapies.

Nanomaterials The properties of materials are fundamentally altered when they are reduced in size down to the Professor Huw Summers, nanoscale. Extreme surface area to volume ratios lead to high chemical activity whilst quantum [email protected] physical effects radically affect basic electrical properties. Thus through nanotechnology we can http://www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/researc ‘size-engineer’ material properties. Projects are available in nanocrystal growth, nanoscale h/centres-and-projects/multidisciplinary- imaging and nano-material characterisation. nanotechnology-centre/ Nano-sensors Nanoscale structures are of the same scale as molecules. Therefore the use of nanoparticles, nanowires and other nanoscale systems provides a means to exceptionally sensitive devices in which performance can be altered by a single molecule. Projects are available on a wide range of topics including nanowire sensors for bio-molecule detection (e.g. glucose) and graphene-based nanosensing systems.

To apply: Professor Huw Summers, [email protected] http://www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/research/centres-and-projects/multidisciplinary- nanotechnology-centre/

Tissue Engineering Work in this area aims to develop novel tissue scaffolds with controlled micro and nanoscale Professor Huw Summers, morphology and the functionality to guide tissue development and regeneration. Engineered cell [email protected] environments such as these are utilised as 3D tissue regeneration systems to evaluate the http://www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/researc applications of stem cell, tissue engineering, scaffold-free cell engineering and acellular h/centres-and-projects/multidisciplinary- functional materials. Projects are available in technologies for tissue scaffold formation and in nanotechnology-centre/ imaging and analysis approaches for regenerative medicine.

Desalination and Pressure is increasing on our limited water resources. With more people requiring clean water, Professor Huw Summers, membrane effective solutions need to come from reusing water in the most efficient way. Projects in water [email protected] engineering and process engineering include: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/cwater/ technologies  Drinking water treatment: improved methods of potable water treatment, with a view to meeting tightening regulations at cheaper capital and operating costs.  Waste-water treatment: technologies for the efficient removal of environmentally harmful materials and thus reduced emissions per output of discharge.  Process-water treatment: methods for the treatment of process streams enabling the recycling of water and valuable chemical intermediates.  Membrane engineering - modelling membrane processes, development of new membranes, pilot scale studies.

Complex fluids and The processing of complex fluids is a major feature of modern industry. Such fluids are extremely Professor Huw Summers, Rheology diverse in origin and composition - ranging, for example, from fermentation broths and food [email protected] products to inks and mineral slurries. However, underlying this diversity are certain properties http://complexfluids.swan.ac.uk/home.htm that must be understood if the processing is to be effective and efficient. Our research in this area covers the study of flow behaviour in process equipment, understanding how the components of the fluid determine its overall properties and how individual components may be selectively separated.

Printing and The Welsh Coating and Printing Centre at Swansea has a broad range of research activities Professor Huw Summers, Coating relating to modern printing processes. Research areas include: [email protected]  Graphics and Packaging - as a vital area of the economy research and support of this http://wcpcswansea.com/ sector are considered to be a corner stone for WCPC.  Printed Electronics - the holistic approach to printed electronics is removing the trial an error approach of materials and process integration.  Medical and Biotechnology - Printing as a manufacturing process for integrating conductives and biotechnology will provide high speed low cost manufacturing solutions. New Alloy As reserves of important metallic elements become depleted it is vital to develop alternative Contact: Prof. SGR Brown, Discovery and/or improved metal alloy systems for the future in a wide variety of industrial sectors. This is [email protected] a massive sector; in Europe alone the metal industry contributes an added value to the EU GDP http://www.swan.ac.uk/engineering/mach1/ of €1.3 trillion per year. In order to discover new alloys it is necessary to (i) develop very fast numerical algorithms to identify candidate alloys and (ii) develop a high–throughput (HT) characterization methodology to test potential alloys quickly. A range of research projects in this emerging field (either programming, experimental or both) are available and will include collaboration with the European Space Agency.

Additive Layer Additive Layer Manufacturing is developing rapidly with significant interest from Aerospace, Contact: Dr N Lavery, Manufacturing Medical and Automotive industries looking to take advantage of the freedom of design and low [email protected] material waste. Much of the interest is currently on scaling up the process for larger-scale http://www.astutewales.com/en/ industrial production. In the development of the process, it is clear that some of the fundamental engineering challenges are the control of porosity and residual stresses in parts. Swansea is involved in the AMAZE project, coordinated by the European Space Agency, and with some important partners such as EADS, Airbus and Renishaw. In the course of the work proposed for this PhD, there would possibilities to work on either computational models of the process, prediction of residual stresses, optimal design of components, building of parts and/or materials testing &characterisation of components built using new metal powders. The specifics of the projects could be tailored about the candidate.

SPECIFIC - SPECIFIC is Wales national Innovation and Knowledge Centre. It aims to develop coated glass and Professor Dave Worsley, Sustainable steel products that capture, store and release solar energy, turning buildings into power [email protected] Product stations. The centre brings together world class academic and industrial expertise in the fields of http://www.specific.eu.com/ photovoltaics, solar thermal, batteries, chemical conversion and wide area lighting, alongside Engineering Centre unique sheet and coil printing and coating facilities. SPECIFIC is led by Swansea University in for Innovation in partnership with industrial partners Tata Steel, BASF and NSG Pilkington and research partners Functional Imperial College London, Cardiff University, Bath University, Bangor University and Sheffield Coatings University; it is funded by EPSRC, Technology Strategy Board and the Welsh Government.

Hydrogen storage Energy storage is one of the biggest challenges at present. Due to the environmental concerns, materials developing clean and safe fuels is extremely important. Hydrogen is considered as a promising substitute for fossil fuels. The most important application for hydrogen storage materials is in automobiles, where large storage capacity and the reversibility of dehydrogenation and hydrogenation reactions under reasonable conditions are the prime challenges to be overcome. Although encouraging improvements in hydrogen storage is achieved by severe plastic deformation (SPD) of metallic materials, little is understood on the parameters influencing the hydrogen storage performance. In this context, our prime interest is the mechanistic understanding of hydrogen storage in metals (Mg and Ti) by SPD. It will also have special emphasis on identifying the exact controlling mechanism of hydrogen storage by advanced techniques, TEM, EBSD and X-ray synchrotron diffraction. A range of research projects having potential collaborations with UK industries are available.

To apply: Dr. Leo Prakash, [email protected]

Nuclear materials The investment for new nuclear builds worldwide is predicted to be $300 billion over the next few decades. By 2030, the worldwide nuclear energy capacity is estimated to increase by over 10%. Currently, advanced nuclear fission (GEN-III+ and GEN-IV) and fusion reactors are under intensive research and development around the globe to meet our future energy requirements. To this end, the challenges to structural materials used in future reactors (due to higher operating temperatures and higher fuel burn-ups) far exceed the requirements for nuclear materials typically encountered in current GEN-II and GEN-III reactors. Understanding and developing new material systems is an urgent task due to their severe operating conditions. In this context of nuclear materials, our research interests are: alloy development, understanding the underlying deformation mechanisms, thermomechanical processing, phase transformation and irradiation induced damage to improve the manufacturing and performance of nuclear materials. Projects on Zr, Refractory alloys and ODS steel having potential collaborations with European industries are available. EBSD, TEM, ion/proton irradiation, neutron and X-ray synchrotron facilities will be accounted for this research.

To apply: Dr. Leo Prakash, [email protected]

HCP metals: Hexagonal closed packed (hcp) metals, most importantly Ti and Mg, have a versatile industrial Processing to applications, including automobile, aerospace, oil and gas, biomedical and nuclear, due to their unique combination of properties providing advantages over competing materials such as Al and Performance steel. Swansea has world leading research centres working on hcp metals on various aspects, including material design, processing, forming, modelling, joining and performance. The prime aim here is to understand the fundamental mechanisms responsible for their processing to performance. Some aspects of potential projects include enhancing ductility and grain boundary damage of Mg, process related micromechaisms of Ti, processing to performance of additive manufactured structures, lattice strain evolution and crystal plasticity modeling. We will exploit the state of art large-scale neutron and X-ray synchrotron facilities, EBSD, TEM, and a large variety of deformation techniques for this research.

To apply: Dr. Leo Prakash, [email protected]; Dr. SoranBirosca, [email protected] http://www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/ism/

Civil and Swansea has one of the top Centres for Computational Science and Engineering in the world. All prospective PhD students interested in Computational One of the fathers of the finite element method, the late Professor O.C. Zienkiewicz was an computational modelling are requested to academic here. The academic staff within the Centre edit a large number of top journals in the contact Head of Centre, Professor Engineering area of Computational Engineering and Science. A large number of academic staff works closely PerumalNithiarasa, Centre with major industries within the UK and abroad. [email protected]. www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/research/cent Specific projects within the Centre are listed below. res-and-projects/civil-and-computational- engineering/

Computational Morphing aircraft are able to deform their structure to improve performance or to control the Professor PerumalNithiarasa, Aerospace aircraft. Opportunities exist in specific structural concepts for example camber variation, span [email protected]. extension or active winglets, or in the conceptual level modelling of morphing aircraft. www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/research/cent Engineering and See http://www.morphing-aircraft.com. res-and-projects/civil-and-computational- Structures (CAES) engineering/  Uncertainty modelling, propagation and quantification, for example considering the uncertainty and variability in aircraft composite components. Robust design.  Nonlinear structural dynamics, nonlinear modes, ground vibration tests, and their use in the design of lightweight engineering structures such as aircraft wings.  Tools to analyze the aeroelasticity of aircraft, including flutter prediction and gust load alleviation.  Energy harvesting from ambient vibration, via piezoelectric and electromagnetic devices.  Vibration control, including the analysis and optimisation of passive damping treatments, nonlinear vibration absorbers and isolators, and the fully active control of vibration.  Structural health monitoring from the structural response, including the use of low frequency vibration data or acoustic emission.  Modelling, analysis and design of rotating machinery, particularly for condition monitoring.

Computational  Contacts, made up of metal-semiconductor interfaces, are integral part any Professor PerumalNithiarasa, Nano Structures semiconductor device and their quality is crucial for the device proper functionality. [email protected]. Two major current trends in the semiconductor industry - miniaturisation of the devices www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/research/cent and shift to new materials - pose the challenges for the contact technology: (i) res-and-projects/civil-and-computational- robustness and stability of operation in ever smaller devices and (ii) compatibility of the engineering/ metal and semiconductor components.  Electronic devices become smaller and smaller allowing them to be smarter and to consume less energy. All this is happening thanks to the continuous reduction in the size of transistors, the basic building blocks of each silicon chip. However, further reduction in size will become almost impossible if we continue to use the current, bulk transistor technology beyond the 22 nm technology generation. One of the solutions is to employ 3D geometry design allowing us to drive the technology forwards and achieve yet faster transistors and more complex circuits as outlined in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS).

Silicon based power devices’ technology is reaching its maturity and is not able to deliver a further significant improvement in power conversion. An essential technology booster is needed to satisfy the requirements for a high integration

Computational This group offers computational projects in many areas of computational biology, biomechanics, Professor PerumalNithiarasa, Biomedical biomedical engineering, and rheology related to both medicine and other standard industrial [email protected]. applications. Some specific projects within this group include but not limited to www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/research/cent Engineering and res-and-projects/civil-and-computational- Rheology  Application of smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) to multiscale flow applications engineering/ within different biomedical systems. SPH is a meshless method with a large number of applications.  Driving device development using computational approach. This is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how new medical device design can be driven by computational mechanics and methods.  Developing software from very fundamental knowledge to disease diagnosis. Any successful project in this area will make significant improvements to quality of life for patients and also reduces healthcare costs everywhere.  Fundamental understanding of how an individual contributes to a group behavior. The exciting applications include any sort of insect or animal swarms, red blood cell motion in blood and many other problems.  Image processing and dealing with large amount of data is another area that is important for diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Developing new methods for segmentation software, preprocessing to obtain suitable output for analysis etc. are within the scope of this research area.  Rheology of biological material and industrial flows is important area within both drug and standard engineering industry. This important area of application can lead to original research.  Prosthetic leg development within the group is vigorously pursued. The design is driven by theory and modelling and supported by other disciplines within Swansea University. Computational Fluid  This group offers computational projects in many areas of computational fluid dynamics Professor PerumalNithiarasa, Dynamics and and computational electromagnetics. These projects emanate from industrial interest [email protected]. Electromagnetics and often involve industrial collaboration. www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/research/cent  Development of the next generation computational fluid dynamics techniques on res-and-projects/civil-and-computational- unstructured grid that is based on higher order methods which enable efficient engineering/ simulation of unsteady flow phenomena such as gust flow over commercial aircraft.  Development of computational fluid techniques that is based on the low operation count scheme of Marker and Cell on unstructured grids.  Development of high order simulation techniques for the modelling of photonic devices.  Development of combined mechanical-electromagnetic techniques for the modelling the possibly large non-linear deformations and complex electromagnetic fields.  Development of computational techniques based on the coupling of the Lattice Boltzman equation and particle methods to improve the simulation of membrane separation process which is essential for water treatment.  Development of Hex dominant mesh generation technique that enable the use of mixture of element types that are best suited for individual application. Computational  Stochastic Modelling of Heterogeneous Media: Theory and Applications Professor PerumalNithiarasa, Solids and Heterogeneous materials, such as composites, concrete and porous media, consist of [email protected]. www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/research/cent Structures two or more phases that have different physical properties and arerandomly distributed within the volume of the materials. They are encountered ina wide range of engineering res-and-projects/civil-and-computational- applications, e.g. concrete structuresand oil/gas flow in porous reservoirs etc. The engineering/ principal objective of the work is to utilise and further develop the existing expertise available to the researchteam in order to provide the knowledge and methods of stochastic modelling for theanalysis of practical random medium systems.  Computational Multiscale Methods for Modelling of Solids ad Structures. The proposed research project is concerned with development of numerical procedures for multi- scale analysis of materials with applications including metals, biological tissue,geomaterials and concrete.  Computational strategies for fluid-structure interaction Many practical problems, encountered in nature and various areas of engineering involve the interaction of fluid flow with a solid structure. The difficulty lies in the strong nonlinearity and the high degree of coupling between the fluid and the solid fields. Therefore, various solution strategies, with different effects on time integration, numerical stability, accuracy and computational cost, are employed to solve the overall problem. The main objective of this project is the development of robust and efficient computational fluid-structure interaction strategies that would be suitable for application to a wide range of problems relevant to industrial practice, such as, valves, pistons, wind turbines, etc.  Fractures in rocks provide high conductivity paths for fluid flow on a range of length scales and dominate flow behaviour in many subsurface reservoirs. Consequently fracture modelling has become a crucial ingredient in recovery of petroleum and for carbon sequestration strategies. This project will entail multiscale numerical modelling and development for fracture flow simulation in subsurface reservoirs.  Oil recovery, aquifer remediation and carbon sequestration strategies are determined by subsurface reservoir simulation. Subsurface rock can be compressible and undergo deformation during the recovery process leading to drastic changes in rock properties such as permeability and even subsidence, with consequent major impact on simulation predictions. This project will involve coupling of geomechanics (modelling of rock deformation) with state of the art reservoir simulation techniques to significantly improve current reservoir simulation physical modelling and consequent predictive capability. Energy and This group undertakes research into marine renewable energy, flooding (coastal, fluvial and Professor PerumalNithiarasa, Engineering from pluvial), coastal and estuarine morphodynamics. We specialize in mathematical and [email protected]. computational modeling as well as field experimentation. Project areas include: www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/research/cent Clouds to Coasts res-and-projects/civil-and-computational-  Climate change impacts on extreme storm/flooding and flood risk management. This engineering/ research will make use of the advanced High Performance Computing facility to investigate the extreme weather/storm and the consequent flooding at regional and continental scales. Individual projects are available that focus specifically on coastal or fluvial or pluvial flooding.  Uncertainty awareness and quantification in complex water resources modelling systems. Statistical/stochastic models/methods in describing rainfall/runoff model and applications.  Urban flood risk management with GIS and remote sensing. A high-resolution urban flood model for big cities is to be developed and tested using cutting-edge GIS data and technology. In addition, the research will also attempt to address the utility of modern satellite-borne remote sensing technology and data in modelling urban flooding.  The role of long period waves in the overtopping of sea defences is not well understood. This project would be a computational investigation of long wave overtopping of sea walls.  Changes in beach shape can be considered as stochastic. Equations describing the evolution of stochastic variables can be formulated and used to describe variations in beach position. This project would be an analytical and numerical investigation of using such an approach for beach management.  Development of a variable-boundary overtopping and coastal flooding module for coastal area models: The land boundary of natural beaches change as a result of dune/beach erosion. Therefore, wave overtopping and flooding will be a temporal function of incident wave conditions but also of the state of the beach.  Investigation of the effects of repeated storms on beach change: recent repeated storms created unprecedented damage to beaches, which we normally do not experience with the single storm approach. Here we plan to model the effects of landfall of repeated storms on our coastlines.  Turbulence model development for computational fluid dynamics of farms of tidal stream turbines used for ocean renewable energy.  Performance modelling of a novel wave energy conversion device.  Computational fluid dynamics modelling of dynamic control of tidal stream turbines.  The effects of waves and turbulence on tidal turbines using a Blade Element Momentum Theory approach.  Algorithms for tracking the movement of marine mammals from multi channel acoustic recordings.  Individual Based Modelling of the movement of fish. For further details see http://thaaquatic.info/services/individual-based-models-ibm/  Background for marine energy projects can be found on the Marine Energy Research Group website: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/marine-energy/

If you cannot see a research area listed above ,but have found an academic or research area in Swansea that you would like to apply to study with, please contact Mrs Ruth Bunting, [email protected].