Research Fellow in Bio-inspired Mechatronic Acoustic Sensing Full-time

Research Fellow in Bio-inspired Mechatronic Acoustic Sensing

This post is part of the EPSRC-funded project “Nature's Antenna: Programmable Webs for Low-Frequency Acoustic Sensing” (AcoustiWeb), which will develop a bio-inspired, low-power sensing node for estimating the direction of arrival of low-frequency sounds outdoors.

The postholder will design, build and test mechatronic and electronic hardware for a piezo-tensioned acoustic sensing lattice, integrate low-noise sensing and embedded readout electronics, and develop signal-processing and calibration methods for pressure-particle velocity fusion, Self-ID/auto-retuning and field trials.

The salary range for this role is £45,103 – £46,261. Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent upon having been awarded a PhD; if this is not the case, initial appointment will be at Grade 6B (salary £39,148 – £40,805 per annum) with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD Thesis.

The successful candidate will have, or be close to completing, a PhD in electrical or electronic engineering, mechatronics, robotics, control engineering, applied physics, mechanical engineering, acoustics or a closely related discipline, with a strong emphasis on practical hardware development. They will have demonstrable experience designing, building and testing mechatronic or electronic systems, ideally including sensors, analogue front-end electronics, embedded systems, PCB development, low-power instrumentation, acoustic/vibration measurement or related experimental platforms. Strong mathematical and signal-processing skills are essential, including the ability to analyse noisy sensor data, design calibration procedures and work with physical models of dynamic systems. Experience with firmware, MATLAB/Python, laboratory instrumentation, practical fabrication, field testing and open/reproducible engineering would be highly desirable.