Take this opportunity to work on a physics research project at one of our host companies in New Zealand. This particular company is firmly industry focused. They strive to make a difference to individual companies, which in turn supports economic transformation for the country as a whole. Read down below about the possibilities in a physics research project.
Intern Duties
SCOPE: Research, Analysis, Design, Build, Test
Meta-materials have internal structures engineered such that in certain operating regimes they exhibit properties that are not observed in nature, such as negative stiffness and negative mass. These internal structures have dimensions that are large enough to be manufactured using existing technology, yet small relative to the vibration or electromagnetic wavelength with which they are designed to interact, thus allowing the engineering of properties through structure rather than chemical composition. In the elastic or acoustic domain, these internal structures’ critical dimensions are of the order of millimeters to centimeters.
The focus of most current international research is on delivering such unusual phenomena as electromagnetic cloaking. While a number of theoretical analyses publish over the past two years’ purport to demonstrate the feasibility of acoustic cloaking, experimental data on the actual behavior of the proposed elastic structures is extremely limited.
This project’s goal is to design (based on existing concepts) and test a simple mechanical “artificial atom” unit and a multi-unit assembly, demonstrate its negative mass or stiffness behaviour under uniaxial vibration, and correlate its performance across frequencies with the prediction of versions of Newton’s second law that account for the anisotropic and frequency-dependent nature of meta-material parameters such as density. If successful, it is likely that the results will be published.
SCOPE: Research, Analysis, Design, Build, Test
The current state of the art in the design of high-performance structures in aerospace, marine or defense applications, whether composed of composite or other advanced materials, is generally limited by the complications introduced by the stress concentrations associated with the holes, joints and mounting points that are needed in a functional structure.
The ability to predict the magnitude of these stress concentrations and design local reinforcements is limited in large part by uncertainty about modeling accuracy and the effect of the variability in detail geometry and material properties that is the inevitable by-product of manufacturing tolerances and imprecise knowledge at the design stage.
The goal of this project is to provide experimental insight into uncertainty in mechanical systems by mechanically testing statistically significant numbers of specimens with different canonical stress concentrations types and controlled variability. A novel aspect will be the use of a digital image correlation system to measure the deformation field instead of attempting to infer it from point measurements provided by displacement or strain sensors. The student will seek to apply design of experiments principles to the definition of the test matrix, contribute to the fabrication of specimens with precisely tailored variations; and map the strain field under load. These maps of deformation will be used to inform and validate computational models.
Company Description
Location: Auckland
Number of Employees: 50+
Industry: Research & Development
Position: Physics
Duration: 4-6 months
Vacancy code: NZ 1778
How to apply
To apply for an internship via us, please use the “Apply now” link. You will need to complete an online application form. We will email you to acknowledge we have received your interest and let you know the next steps in the application process.
Make sure that you are sincerely interested in the position and will be motivated to perform if hired.
