Oferta de tesis en CIMNE

A PhD position is open in the Large Scale Scientific Computing group
at the International Center for Numerical Methods in Engineering (CIMNE)
and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC BarcelonaTech).

The position is funded by the project AMBBOS, Advanced computational
Mathematics for Breeding Blanket Optimal deSign, a 3-year Spanish
project focused on the development of numerical methods for the
optimal design of breeding blankets (BB) in fusion reactors.
BB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breeding_blanket) devices are a key
component of fusion reactors that provide radiation shielding from neutrons,
heat extraction and tiritum regeneration (breeding). Testing BB designs
is one of the goals of ITER (https://www.iter.org/proj/inafewlines)
possibly the biggest energy projects in the world.
Most BB concepts are based on a flow of molten led-lithium (Pb-Li)
that circulates under a strong magnetic field used to confine the plasma.

Because experiments are difficult to perform, specially in real operating
conditions, computational methods for BB design are urgently needed.
These methods need to address a robust shape optimization problem that
involves a magnetohydrodynamic flow, possibly with thermal instabilties.
There are several computational challenges that will be address during the
project, including solving large systems of equations for implicit time
integration, using embedded methods for the description of the geometry,
perform validation and verification of the models against available data
(which may require machine learning methods) and wrapping the model in a
robust optimization loop with the computation of shape sensitivites.
The developed methods will be implemented in the Julia programming
language, using the Gridap ecosystem as a basis (https://github.com/gridap)
and will exploit high performance computing resources.

Candidates should hold a degree in mathematics, engineering, computer
science, or physics and an excellent academic record. They also should have
good writing and communication skills including a high English level.

Expertise in software development tools (debugging, git/github),
linux/unix environments and functional or object-oriented programming
as well as parallel programming  will be an important asset.
Knowledge of computational fluid dynamics (ideally related to magnetohydrodinamic
flows), finite element modeling and/or optimization will also be positively considered.

Applications will be considered untill the position will be filled, so it
is advised to send them as soon as possible. Please send your application
(with academic record) and inquires to



Javier Principe, UPC BarcelonaTech & CIMNE
Francesc Verdugo, VU Amsterdam