Postdoctoral Research Fellow/Research Officer – School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering

• School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering

• Join a university ranked in the world’s top 50

• Conduct research within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering

• Application study of AI

• Full time, Fixed-term position from 1 March 2024 until 28 June 2024

• Based at St Lucia Campus

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged.

As part of our commitment to research excellence, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and post-fellowship contracts via our UQ Amplify initiative .

At the core of our teaching remains our students, and their experience with us sets a foundation for success far beyond graduation. Not only do we have one of the largest PhD enrolments in Australia, but we have also made a commitment to making education opportunities available for all Queenslanders, regardless of personal, financial, or geographical barriers.

About This Opportunity 

This is an exciting opportunity for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow / Research Officer to focus their efforts on developing their expertise and emerging research profile in their discipline. At this level it is expected that the incumbent will contribute to service and engagement roles and activities.

The primary purpose of the role will be to conduct research within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, focusing on the study of the application of AI (particularly, computer vision) to enhance machining processes in the context of intelligent manufacturing.

Key responsibilities will include: 

Research

• Conduct a comprehensive study on the application of AI approaches (Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and Computer Vision etc.) to enhance the machining process and the quality of the product.

• Develop and evolve novel AI methods, including enabling techniques and algorithms, to enable new forms of intelligent machining processes. 

• Conduct machining experiments, particularly high-speed grinding, to generate a proper dataset for training, developing, and validating the AI models.

• Work within the team of machining researchers to achieve the objectives of the research project.

• Utilise a range of characterisation and machining techniques to analyse the microstructural and surface deformation due to ductile, brittle, and transitional material removal of the material during the machining process.

• Conduct a study to comprehensively understand and model the formation of the material removal mechanism and defects in the machining process using AI.

• Document research findings and/or publish scholarly papers in high-quality refereed international journals, books and conference proceedings.

Teaching and Learning

• Teach related undergraduate courses if required.

• Contribute to the effective supervision of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students (as appropriate).

Citizenship and Service

• Perform a range of administrative functions in the laboratory and/or research group as needed, including an ability and willingness to serve as a laboratory manager if required.

• Contribute to the development of a positive safety culture in the School. 

• Any other duties as reasonably directed by your supervisors.

This is a research focused academic position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance .

This is a full-time (100% FTE), fixed-term position from 1 March 2024 until 28 June 2024 at an Academic level A. The full-time equivalent base salary will be in the range $74,308.68 – $99,426.59, plus a generous super allowance of up to 17%. The total FTE package will be up to $86,941.16 – $116,329.11 annually. 

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad:  from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

About You  

• Completion or near completion of a PhD in mechanical engineering.

• An emerging profile in research in the discipline area.

• Evidence of publications in reputed refereed journals and presenting at conferences.

• Evidence of contributions towards successfully obtaining external research funding.

• Some experience in meaningful internal service roles and contributions towards external activities

• Ability and willingness to:
  o    Work effectively with the staff and students.
  o    Participate in applications for external research funding support.
  o    Supervise honours and Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students if required.

• Experience and demonstrated competence in the following:  
  o    Proficient knowledge of AI, particularly Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Machine Vision as well as high-precision grinding process, material removal, and the characterisation of ground materials.
  o    Experience in the application of machine vision to enhance the grinding process (e.g. prediction of critical parameters).
  o    Expertise in a high-precision grinding machine and relevant measurement for surface roughness and grinding force.
  o    Experience in hands-on lab activities including specimen preparation, image processing, post-processing, and analysis techniques.

• Ability to:
  o    Promote and adhere to a positive safety culture including the ability and willingness to assume the role of laboratory manager if required.
  o    Undertake tutoring at undergraduate levels.

• Demonstrated: 
  o    High level of drive and enthusiasm.
  o    High-level interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills.
  o    Strong project management skills to successfully manage a highly interdisciplinary project ensuring target schedule and the quality of the outcome.

In addition, the following mandatory requirements apply:

• Work Rights: You must have unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Visa sponsorship is not available for this appointment.

• Background Checks: All final applicants for this position may be asked to consent to a criminal record check. Please note that people with criminal records are not automatically barred from applying for this position. Each application will be considered on its merits. 

 
Questions? 

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Dr Mingyuan Lu . For application queries, please contact [email protected] stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line. 
 

Want to Apply? 

All applicants must upload the following documents in order for your application to be considered:

• Resume

• Cover letter 

• Responses to the ‘About You’ section

Other Information 

At UQ we know that our greatest strengths come from our diverse mix of colleagues, this is reflected in our ongoing commitment to creating an environment focused on equity, diversity and inclusion .  We ensure that we are always attracting, retaining and promoting colleagues who are representative of the diversity in the broader community, whether that be gender identity , LGBTQIA+ , cultural and/or linguistic , Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples , or people with a disability . Accessibility requirements and/or adjustments can be directed to [email protected]  

If you are a current employee (including casual staff and HDR scholars) or hold an unpaid/affiliate appointment, please login to your staff Workday account and visit the internal careers board to apply for this opportunity. Please do NOT apply via the external job board.

Applications close on Sunday, 28 January 2023 at 11.00pm AEST (R-32263). Please note that interviews have been tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, 7 February 2024.