The role

The purpose of this role is to support the Principal Investigator (Dr Rainer Groh) in delivering an ambitious research program funded through the UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship. By taking advantage of shear alignment in direct inking, the proponent customizes the spatial distribution of nematic extrusions in liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) in order to transform 2D printed geometries into targeted 3D shapes under different stimuli. An additional area of ​​novelty is exploring how short carbon fibers can be used to reinforce LCEs and how the orientation of the reinforcement fibers interacts with the orientation of the filament guides.

The role holder will be an experienced researcher specializing in the fields of soft materials, 3D and 4D printing. Aside from additive manufacturing and materials characterization, the role holder will also be comfortable with analytical/computational modeling to rationalize experiments. The role holder will be expected to contribute their own ideas and/or enhance methodologies to ensure the successful implementation of the larger research project. The research results will be published by the role holder in leading journals and conferences in the field of soft materials, smart materials and additive manufacturing.

In addition to research, the role holder can, where practical, contribute to teaching, through joint supervision of PhD students and teaching support for the PI’s final year unit. Mechanics of lightweight and composite structures. In addition to academic and pastoral support within the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Aerospace and Design, training in effective communication, leadership and entrepreneurship will be provided through a dedicated PI Future Leadership Fellow training programme, in order to prepare the role holder to take on further responsibilities in the future.

The role holder will:

• Establishing a 3D and 4D printing laboratory based on a DIW printer
• Printing LCEs using spatially designed filament guides with printed structures that have the ability to transform between the printed flat geometry and the target 3D shape
• Inventing new ways to enhance LCEs using recycled carbon fibers to enhance mechanical properties and demonstrate new conversion capabilities
• Characterization and testing of printed structures at the University of Bristol and project partners
• Implement or use computational programs that predict, rationalize, and model target distributions of filament guides/fiber orientations to produce a target 3D shape

You must apply then

• You are passionate about working at the interface of soft matter conversion, computational design, and automated manufacturing
• You have a strong background in soft matter mechanics
• You have experience in 3D and 4D printing of soft materials especially liquid crystalline plastics
• You are excited to start a new capacity in a world-leading research laboratory
• You have a desire to explore the real-world impact of your research

Additional information

For informal inquiries please contact: Dr. Rainer Groh (rainer.groh@bristol.ac.uk)

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