Post Doctoral Research Associate in Wave Energy Software Engineering

at  Heriot Watt University

Directorate: School of Engineering & Physical Sciences
Salary: Grade 7 (£36,023-£45,585)
Contract Type: Part Time (14 hours per week), Fixed Term (11 months)
Rewards and Benefits: 33 days annual leave, plus 9 buildings closed days for all full time staff (Part time workers should pro rata this by their FTE). Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The Research Associate will work within the HAPiWEC team at the Edinburgh campus of Heriot-Watt University. They will be expected to develop the control engineering software that will be a key deliverable of the project. The software they produce should be of an extremely high standard in terms of useability, as a key feature of the project is to allow future control algorithm developers to test their algorithms with the a step-change in speed. The Research Associate will need to collaborate closely with the rest of the HAPiWEC team to turn the research outputs into usable software code that is sharable with and usable by a diverse range of target audiences.

We are looking for a collaborative and motivated researcher with a strong software development focus and good knowledge of wave energy converter dynamics. Regular communication with the HAPiWEC team and external stakeholders will be essential. General tasks include engineering development, software coding, documentation and testing of software, report writing, and preparation of scientific papers.

In detail, the potholder is required to:

• Identify appropriate software engineering approaches to turn research methods into usable software.
• Work with project partners at Edinburgh University and the University of Strathclyde to develop software suitable for control algorithm testing.
• Undertake detailed software engineering testing to ensure the developed software is fit for purpose.
• Document the software developed so that future users have clear guidance on the correct way to use the software developed.
• Use GitHub (or similar) to ensure software is developed in a manner that minimises risk, and maximises updateability through version control.
• Implement software engineering methods to allow users to remotely access and update their code as appropriate.
• Prepare and edit scientific and software engineering journal papers.
• Participate in the testing of wave energy control algorithms through software and hardware, including in-person at the University of Edinburgh Flowave facility.
• Be able to participate and contribute to discussions around wave energy converter dynamics and control.