Doctoral Studentship: Biomechanical Engineering at Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

About the job: 

• The CSIR has a vacancy for a Doctoral Studentship in the Landward Sciences Impact Area, within the Defence and Security Cluster. The incumbent will be responsible for undertaking research and development in the field of Biomechanical engineering focussing on the topics that include the effects of explosive and ballistic threats on the human body and the development of protective technologies.
• The Impact Area integrates experimental, computational, and analytical approaches to improve soldier survivability and understand injury mechanisms in extreme environments.  This position is based in Pretoria.

Research areas: 

• Field and laboratory instrumentation of Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATDs).
• Finite element analysis (FEA) of the human body biomechanical response to explosive and impact forces utilising advanced computational modeling and simulation tools such as LS-DYNA, MSC Dytran, or Abaqus.
• Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of vehicles designed to withstand landmines, along with systems, and test rigs for repetitive blast and ballistic assessments.
• Experimental biomechanics, which involves the integration of sensors, the collection of data, and the analysis of injury metrics according to various national and international standards. 
• Development and evaluation of blast and ballistic protective systems to enhance landmine-protected vehicles and crew survivability.

Key responsibilities:

• Prepare a research proposal to be approved by both the CSIR and the university. The research proposal must be aligned with the research group¿s key objectives.
• Prepare a written literature overview of the current state-of-the-art relevant to the research topic.
• Perform original research to solve the open research problem(s) that the student identified in his/her proposal.
• Produce sufficient quantity and quality of peer-reviewed publications based on the Doctoral research topic.
• Design and execute biomechanical field and laboratory experiments using ATDs, RSA Surrogate Legs, including the integration of blast and ballistics measurement sensors.
• Develop and validate computational models of various human injury mechanisms.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders, including defence partners and academic institutions.
• Present findings at conferences and contribute to technical reports and project deliverables
• Compile the Doctoral thesis and defend the work successfully; and
• Contribute to extra project activities that may be outside the scope of the doctoral research as per the needs of the research group.

Qualifications, skills, and experience:

• A Master's degree in biomechanical/biomedical engineering (with a biomechanics research focus area), or related discipline.
• Register for a Doctoral qualification within a South African university (to be agreed upon with the CSIR co-supervisor);
• All international qualifications require an evaluation report/certificate issued by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA); 
• Solid background in the biomechanics of human injury, computational modeling, and experimental techniques.
• Proficiency with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software, i.e., LS-DYNA, Abaqus, or MSC Dytran.
• Proficiency in data analysis tools (e.g., MATLAB, Python).
• Excellent communication skills (verbal and written) and ability to interact efficiently with diverse teams of people; and
• A good peer-reviewed publication record will be advantageous.
• South African citizenship or permanent residency.