Postdoc in Li-ion battery fault detection

This postdoc position gives an unique possibility to reach absolute specialist competence in battery research and combine this with automatic control, both fields with very strong job markets also in the foreseeable future. The project involves both theoretical in-depth work as well as application oriented, and collaboration with specialists at the involved companies. You will be working in an internationally well-reputed group of about 10 researchers in the Automatic Control group developing battery management algorithms.

Perhaps most importantly, the project may lead to many lives being saved as well as enormous cost savings if physical heat barriers in electric vehicles can be replaced with software functionalities.

Information about the the project
The position is with the Automatic Control group in the Division of Systems and Control. Aiming for sustainable solutions, this group is involved in many research projects on energy savings using automatic control methods. In general the projects are carried out in collaboration with other research groups, institutes and industry.

The interest and use of battery based electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, are steadily increasing and they are gradually replacing the traditional combustion engine based vehicles due to environmental concern and legislation. The energy stored in vehicle batteries, though, poses an enormous danger as they may enter thermal runaway (TR) and self-ignite with fatal consequences. Without further development we can expect the number of such accidents to increase drastically as the number of electric vehicles increases. This is worrying and has led to legislations that may significantly increase the production costs of electric vehicles if solved by traditional means. In this project, we instead aim to derive the obviously most cost-effective solution to mitigate this, i.e. completely avoid the initiation of TR, using algorithms running continuously, supervising the batteries and acting on level of hazard.

The project is a collaboration project with Volvo Cars, and with Beijing Institute of Technology and Geely Auto Group in China. Accidents with TR in batteries are thankfully uncommon and once an accident occurs, the data collected is usually lost. The availability of relevant data is therefore critical. The plan in this project is to get around this in two ways. The first is to mathematically model the physical causes of the runaway with a very high level of detail in order to be able to simulate pre-TR data. The models may then be used to develop fault detection and diagnosis algorithms to estimate the level of hazard. The second way is to use selected data from a Chinese database to both evaluate and develop the diagnostic methods. The modelling part will require mathematical skills and experience of solving partial differential equations. We have already recruited one postdoc to work on the physical modelling part. The position under recruitment will focus on the development of diagnostic and fault detection algorithms.

Major responsibilities
Your major responsibility is to pursue research in line with the project, publish and present scientific articles and take part in discussions. The position may also include supervision of MSc thesis projects in the field. Another important aspect involves collaboration within academia and with society at large.

Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of two years (1+1) with a possible extension.

Qualifications
To qualify for the position of postdoc, you must have a doctoral degree in a relevant field; Automatic Control/Signal Processing/Engineering Mathematics/Electrochemistry/Physics. It is meritable to have experience in battery research.

The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English. Swedish is not a requirement but Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20210457 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically and be attached as pdf-files, as below:

CV: (Please name the document as: CV, Surname, Ref. number) including:
• CV, include complete list of publications
• Previous teaching and pedagogical experiences
• Two references that we can contact.

Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you:
• Introduce yourself
• Describe your previous research fields and main research results
• Describe your future goals and future research focus

Other documents:
• Attested copies of completed education, grades and other certificates.

Learn more and apply here: https://www.chalmers.se/sv/om-chalmers/Arbeta-pa-Chalmers/lediga-tjanster/Sidor/default.aspx

Application deadline: 4 November, 2021

For questions, please contact:
Professor Torsten Wik, Systems and Control
Email: tw@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31 772 5146

Ass. Prof. Changfu Zou, Systems and Control
Email: changfu@chalmers.se
Phone: +46 31 772 3392

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