Research Development Engineer (KTP Associate)

Requirements

Qualifications

Its desired that the KTP associate will have a minimum of a 2:1 degree in a relevant field; applications from Chemistry, Materials Science, or another relevant topic will be considered. A masters or higher level would be preferable, with evidence of success in a relevant longer, self-driven project or thesis, that has taken place in either a university, research and technology organisation (RTO), or in a research-driven commercial setting.

Experience

The associate must have experience of polymer processing, and ideally, polymer compounding. Addition experiences are desirable; material testing (thermal, chemical, mechanical), process modelling and automation. A combination of multiple of the above is desirable, but not essential. Experience in running long-term projects such as a thesis is preferable. Ideally the associate will have experience in publishing papers.

Skills and attributes

The associate will need to be driven, motivated and comfortable with independent work. They should be proactive, display confidence in using their initiative and able to lead their work but also able to work within a wider team. The associate must be a good communicator, and able to clearly convey complex technical information to a varied audience. They will be able to competently address scientific and engineering problems involving technical and non-technical factors. The associate will need the ability to review data to logically justify alternative approaches and compare them against appropriate criteria.

Other

The associate must have ability to travel between NCC (Bristol) and Circular 11 (Bournemouth).

Commercial plastic recycling is severely limited by the inability to separate plastic waste streams, with most of the 75% of plastic going to waste coming from streams that cannot be segregated effectively. This project aims to develop a process control system capable of standardising the performance characteristics of materials developed from mixed plastic waste streams, preventing them from being incinerated and turning waste into a critical feedstock for future, more sustainable products.

This project will leverage NCC’s access to leading researchers and expertise in polymer composites, and Circular11’s expertise of polymer processing to develop a novel ‘dynamic formulation’ methodology. This capability will then be embedded in Circular11 to standardise the material characteristics of mixed plastic waste streams and turn them into a feedstock with reproducible performance to replace timber in non-structural outdoor applications.