Digital-twin technology to accelerate development of electric propulsion systems

This exciting opportunity is based within the Power Electronics, Machine and Control (PEMC) research group in the Faculty of Engineering which conducts cutting edge research using digital twin technology to accelerate electric propulsion system development. 

Applications are invited to join the Power Electronics, Machines and Drives research group. The PEMC group has undergone a significant period of growth and now has over 150 members, with 18 academics including seven full professors and approximately 120 PhD students and post-doctoral research fellows. The group has excellent facilities for experimental work including approximately 2500m² of research space and a construction and testing capability up to 5MW.

Vision

This project aims to leverage the electric propulsion hardware developed in the EU-funded €40M NEWBORN 'NExt generation high poWer fuel cells for airBORNe applications' project and develop a real-time Multiphysics Digital Twin for such a system accelerating future electric propulsion system development.   

Motivation

The transition to net-zero aviation has emerged as a critical objective in the global effort to mitigate climate change with the aviation sector currently accounting for approximately 2–3% of global CO₂ emissions. As traditional jet engines approach the limits of their efficiency improvements, electric propulsion has gained significant attention as a transformative solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in air transportation. Electric propulsion systems—ranging from hybrid-electric to fully electric architectures—offer the potential for substantial environmental benefits including lower emissions, reduced noise, and improved energy efficiency. This PhD research is to develop a digital-twin toolset to accelerate net-zero aviation progress.

Aim

Tasks of this PhD include

• Real-time digital twin technology review to understand this technology and its recent development for electrical engineering application
• Real-time simulation platform skills development including Typhoon and SpeedGoat
• Development of real-time digital twin - physical or artificial intelligent based - of electric propulsion system including propulsion motors, power converters, fuel cell and batteries etc within the real-time simulation platform
• Training the development digital-twin using real-time data from hardware available
• Electrical power level studies with developed digital twin to identify visible solutions for distribution electric propulsion

Candidate requirements

We are looking for enthusiastic, self-motivated applicants with a first-class degree in electrical engineering, control engineering or computer science with good electrical engineering knowledge.

Funding and eligibility

Open to international and UK candidates. 

Please discuss with Professor Tao Yang for more details on funding support.

How to apply

Closing date: open until filled.

Email Professor Tao Yang at tao.yang@nottingham.ac.uk to discuss.