Research Fellow (KTP Associate – UoB/Salinity Solutions Ltd) – School of Engineering

The KTP Associate will be required to set up new testing facilities at the expanding company facilities at Tyseley Energy Park, embedding a rigorous testing process for the scaling up and design for manufacture of new desalination systems to meet customer requirements. Through the partnership, the Associate will develop the ability to: (i) model and predict fluid flow and system performance for large-scale systems; (ii) assess how different types of fouling may affect the membranes and how to mitigate this risk.

Main Duties:
• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc
• Supervise students on research related work and provide guidance to PhD students where appropriate to the discipline
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to Departmental/School research-related activities and research-related administration
• Contribute to enterprise, business development and/or public engagement activities of manifest benefit to the College and the University, often under supervision of a project leader
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of research methods, such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Develop clear technical objectives for research and development activities, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Collect, analyse and interpret data from experiments, simulations and trials
• Apply scientific and engineering knowledge to create new approaches, designs, or system improvements
• Prepare technical reports, summaries, and presentations to communicate findings to both academic and industry audiences
• Contribute to developing new models, techniques and methods
• Undertake management/administration arising from research
• Contribute to enterprise and business development including identifying opportunities for system improvement and supporting customer engagement
• Collect research data; this may be through a variety of methods such as scientific experimentation, literature reviews, and research interviews
• Present technical outputs at meetings, technical workshops, and, where appropriate, research seminars or conferences
• Provide guidance, as required, to support staff and any students who may be assisting with the research
• Identify and propose solutions to problems or technical challenges that may arise during research and development.

Person Specification
Essential:
• First degree in area of specialism and normally, a higher degree relevant to research area or equivalent qualifications/experience
• High level analytical capability
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly
• Fluency in relevant models, techniques or methods and ability to contribute to developing new ones
• Experience in process technology such as water treatment processes
• Ability to assess resource requirements and use resources effectively
• Understanding of and ability to contribute to broader management/administration processes
• Contribute to the planning and organising of the research programme and/or specific research project
• Co-ordinate own work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort
• Knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly
Desirable:
• PhD or equivalent industrial experience in relevant technology area e.g. water industry/water treatment/desalination.
• Use of specialist software such as CAD, CFD, LabVIEW and/or PLC programming.
• Track record in preparing and publishing articles for scientific publication.
• Experience of membrane technology (e.g. RO or nanofiltration) including testing, diagnosing, optimising of prototypes and introduction of innovative solutions.
• Experience in design for manufacture.
• Experience in modelling energy performance of systems.
• Experience in quality assurance and associated documentation.
• Experience in delivering training.

Informal enquiries can be made to Soroosh Sharifi, email: s.sharifi@bham.ac.uk

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham and Salinity Solutions Limited. The Knowledge Transfer Partnership project will focus on scaling-up the technology and transferring existing knowledge of this process from the University of Birmingham to Salinity Solutions, where it can be commercialised and accelerate the growth of the company. The need is to develop significantly larger system designs and simulations and to embed the added knowledge into the business as a legacy capability to reduce the reliance on the University.

Please note that the successful applicant will be employed by the University of Birmingham but will be primarily based at Salinity Solutions Limited premises in Tyseley Energy Park, Fordrough, Yardley, Birmingham, B25 8DW.