Research Engineer in Leuven

Start: September 2019

Duration: 24 months

Background

Environmental testing is a necessity to ensure the survivability of hardware during launch of space vehicles. Acoustic testing is one of the fundamental qualification tests to evaluate if a space structure can withstand the dynamic load it will encounter during its operational life. In particular, direct field acoustic testing method is a cutting-edge methodology using electrodynamic loudspeakers to reproduce the dynamic excitation on the structure in a laboratory.

Research project and tasks

Siemens Industry Software NV is one of the world’s leading companies specializing in the development of simulation and test solutions for the space industry. Its R&D department in Leuven, Belgium is renowned for its excellent track on research projects in partnership with universities, space agencies and leading space satellite and payloads manufacturers.

This research project aims at advanced numerical methods to model and enhance the control performance of direct field environmental acoustic tests. Some of the tasks to be conducted by the research engineer concern the derivation of methodologies for numerical simulation of electrodynamic loudspeakers. Design of test procedures for acquisition of vibro-acoustic data for correlation analysis and model update. Exploration of model order reduction techniques to reduce the calculation complexity of vibro-acoustic numerical models for real-time applications.

Requirements

- PhD on Mechanical or Acoustics or Aerospace Engineering or similar field of study

- In-depth knowledge of FEM/BEM

- Strong programming skills (Matlab, NX Open is a plus)

- Strong interest in physical modelling, simulation and environmental testing for space applications

- Hands on experience on simulation and test of electrodynamic loudspeakers is a plus

- Working language: English

- An innovative spirit and team player skills round off the profile