Research Assistant/Associate (f/m/d) AI-Driven Modeling and Control as an Enabler for Sustainable Structures

Weitere Informationen

The successful candidate will be employed under a regular employment contract.
The position is to be filled at the earliest possible date and offered for a fixed term of 2 years initially.
The Extension of the contract for additional 3 years is planned.
The fixed-term employment is possible as it constitutes one of the fixed-term options of the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz (German Act on Fixed-term Scientific Contracts).
This is a full-time position.
The successful candidate has the opportunity to pursue a doctoral degree in this position.
The salary is based on the German public service salary scale (TV-L).
The position corresponds to a pay grade of EG 13 TV-L.

Unser Profil

The Institute of Control Engineering, directed by Prof. Heike Vallery, is part of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. The institute is specialized in control and automation engineering and aims to act as a bridge between theory and application in the domains of control and automation engineering. In addition to offering fundamental education in control theory, the research work of the institute focuses on mechanical-, automotive-, process-, energy- and medical-engineering.

For more information please see: www.irt.rwth-aachen.de

Ihr Profil

You have successfully completed a university degree (Master's degree or equivalent) in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, automation technology or computer science and have the following knowledge and skills:

• basic knowledge in the field of control and automation technology or data science,
• ability to work independently and scientifically,
• ability to work in a team,
• flexibility,
• good written and spoken English

Ihre Aufgaben

For sustainable and economical design of structures, protective systems such as dissipators and vibration dampers are employed to reduce the effects of dynamic loads. These critical structural elements protect buildings from brittle failure through high energy dissipation and dynamic resilience. However, modeling these structural elements is complicated by nonlinear physical processes at the micro level. Additionally, structural elements that can respond to changing structural and environmental conditions—such as degradation effects, natural disasters, and increasing user demands—are utilized.

The control of these structural elements requires robust adaptive strategies that must adjust to changing conditions. Therefore, the institute collaborates with the Chair of Structural Mechanics at the University of Siegen to research an adaptive nonlinear model predictive control strategy whose model automatically adapts using artificial intelligence. This approach creates a methodological framework in which structures can independently capture, analyze, and adjust their dynamic behavior. To investigate and validate theoretical developments, numerical benchmark systems will be analyzed with hybrid real-time simulations and testing experiments.

As part of the doctoral position, you will research novel approaches to application-oriented sensor fusion and localization together with interdisciplinary project partners from research and industry. Your work will cover a wide range of issues in the following areas:

• modeling technical systems,
• machine learning,
• self-optimizing and learning controls,
• implementation of algorithms in prototype software,
• experimental validation on real test be.

You will present your research findings at international conferences as well as in renowned scientific journals. Furthermore, you will share your knowledge through teaching activities for students.

Über uns

RWTH is a certified family-friendly University. We support our employees in maintaining a good work-life balance with a wide range of health, advising, and prevention services, for example university sports. Employees who are covered by collective bargaining agreements and civil servants have access to an extensive range of further training courses and the opportunity to purchase a job ticket.
RWTH is an equal opportunities employer. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from all suitably qualified candidates, particularly from groups that are underrepresented at the University. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability or age. RWTH is strongly committed to encouraging women in their careers. Female applicants are given preference if they are equally suitable, competent, and professionally qualified, unless a fellow candidate is favored for a specific reason.
As RWTH is committed to equality of opportunity, we ask you not to include a photo in your application.
You can find information on the personal data we collect from applicants in accordance with Articles 13 and 14 of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) at http://www.rwth-aachen.de/dsgvo-information-bewerbung.

Besoldung / Entgelt

EG 13 TV-L