PhD student position in integrated drives for electrified vehicles

The Department of Energy and Environment excels in research and education related to energy, environment and sustainable development ranging from a global perspective to industrial, building and product issues. The focus is on experimental and theoretical research on energy technology as well as on development, use and evaluation of methods and tools for analysis of technical systems. In total around 200 persons are active at the four divisions of the department.

Information about the division
The division of Electric Power Engineering is one of the five divisions within the department of Energy and Environment at Chalmers University of Technology. The division has a strong commitment in research and education with its tasks to develop new knowledge, combine it with experiments, and pass it on to the students and to the society. In this way, the division has been contributing to securing the international competitive position of Sweden as a whole.

Our main research activities in the division are represented in five areas: (1) Power systems and grid-connected converters; (2) High voltage and insulation; (3) Renewable power and grid integration; (4) Electrical machines and drives; and (5) Electric vehicles and transport electrification. 

-The details of the departmental research activities may be found at http://www.chalmers.se/en/departments/ee/organisation/electric_power_engineering/Pages/default.aspx 

Major responsibilities
The main task for the PhD student will be the development of compact integrated electric drivetrain for electrified vehicles.

- The PhD project is a dedicated university research project without direct industrial involvement. The work content has a lot of freedom, therefore the PhD student should be able to work independently.
- The work includes topology study, component/device selection, simulation, system optimization, prototyping, and performance tests.   
- Different topologies will be studied based on typical specifications from our industrial partners. Components (motor and drive converter) will be designed, prototyped, tested, and analyzed for a novel compact electric drivetrain.  The primary goal is to reduce size for the specified power and drive range.
- The detailed design and modelling of the components will be conducted with the help of other colleagues who are experts in component studies. Some collaborations between this project and other projects (motors, inverters, batteries) are expected.    
- The research will be conducted in such a way that theoretical study including simulation and optimization is combined with experimental verifications.
- The research results will be published as technical reports and scientific papers on peer review journals and international conferences.
- The PhD student position is limited to five years and will normally include 15-20% departmental work, typically as lab assistant and exercise leader of different courses. 

Position summary
A PhD student in Electric Power Engineering who will work with development of cost-effective fuel cell powered drivetrains. Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of five years.

Qualifications
- To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in a relevant field, preferably in Electrical Engineering.
- Good knowledge on electrical machines, such as electromagnetic design, control, thermal analysis and cooling design, is required.
- Good knowledge on power electronics, such as DC/DC converters, 3-ph converters, semiconductor devices, charging systems and their modelling methods, is required.
- Practical experience in experimental tests of electromagnetic devices, converters and their control is required.
- The design and simulation tools that will be used in the project include FEM tools such as Maxwell-2D/3D, and circuit simulation tools such as PSpice, LT-Spice, PLECS and Simulink. Experiences in these or similar tools are required.
- Knowledge and experiences on electric drivetrains of electric or hybrid vehicles are meritorious.
- Applicants are expected to have an excellent knowledge of both written and spoken English. Since the university’s teaching activities are conducted in both Swedish and English, the knowledge of Swedish is an advantage.
- A lot of the work, especially those parts related to testing, will be conducted together with other colleagues and collaboration partners. The spirit and personal skill for teamwork are highly appreciated.

Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application deadline: 28 April 2017

For questions, please contact:
Prof. Yujing Liu, Electric Power  Engineering, yujing.liu@chalmers.se, +46 31 7721660

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***