The Department of ocean operations and civil engineering has a vacancy for a

PhD Candidate within water and environmental engineering for smart cities

About the position

We have a vacancy for a PhD position related to this topic:
Optimization of drinking water treatment plants through digital twins

Today’s operation and maintenance of water treatment plants is mostly driven by human experience and criteria which determines the efficiency of the process. Plant operators are also facing major challenges associated with responses to process disturbances (e.g. variations in raw water quality, filtration inefficiencies etc.). Overcoming challenges associated with human in the loop in plant operations is very critical to ensure optimal and cost-effective operations of water treatment plants. Advances in sensors and actuator technologies with data transmission and cloud
connectivity for the water sector, as well as developments in software engineering for digitalization and artificial intelligence, provide an unprecedented opportunity for large-scale implementation of digital twins. Digital twins for process operations are particularly attractive to implement since they can objectively maximize the performance of treatment processes through process modelling and simulation, as well as
overcoming human in the loop limitations. Although the implementation of digital twins in the water sector is at its infancy, it is already starting to bring great attention as an innovation driver for the sector within the broader context of smart cities development.

The water group at Department of Ocean Operations and Civil Engineering (IHB) is pioneering in the digitalization of the water sector. In connection with this, the group is currently undertaking a project (SmartVann) to digitalize the water infrastructure in the city of Ålesund.
The PhD research will be carried out in an interdisciplinary environment. The Water Group at IHB have ongoing PhD projects working on related aspect of challenges facing the water sector within the broader context of smart city development in close collaboration with the Ålesund Municipality. In line with the strategy of IHB, the candidate will be expected to collaborate with researchers across many of the research groups in the Department. The student will also work in close collaboration with staff from the Water and Wastewater Department of Ålesund
Municipality.
The position is located in Ålesund and reports to the head of the department.

Duties of the position

The main goal of this PhD work is to develop a digital twin for the optimization of a drinking water treatment plant operations by accounting for
the drinking water source and key treatment processes.

The PhD work will focus on the following areas:

• modelling and simulation of key water treatment processes;
• development of an interactive digital twin for the key water treatment processes
• integration of process models with real-time data through IoT and BigData
• development of a visualization and user-friendly platform for operation and maintenance of key treatment processes.

Required selection criteria

PhD candidate:

The PhD-position's main objective is to qualify for work in research positions. The qualification requirement is that you have completed a master’s degree or second degree (equivalent to 120 credits) with a strong academic background in Computer science, Data science or Water and envronmental engineering or equivalent education with a grade of B or better in terms of NTNU’s grading scale. If you do not have letter grades from previous studies, you must have an equally good academic foundation. If you are unable to meet these criteria you may be considered only if you can document that you are particularly suitable for education leading to a PhD degree.

The appointment is to be made in accordance with the regulations in force concerning State Employees and Civil Servants and national guidelines for appointment as PhD, post doctor and research assistant.

• Strong programming and software development skills
• Have knowledge in process control & optimization theory and applications

Preferred selection criteria

• Have knowledge and interests in industry 4.0 and technologies for visualization
• Good written and oral English language skills (must be documented)

Personal characteristics

• Good communication skills
• Ability to work independently as well as in team
• Ability to make research at an international level
• Keen interest in the wider context of own research, and an ability to engage in cross-disciplinary teams

In the evaluation of which candidate is best qualified, emphasis will be placed on education, experience and personal suitability, as well as
motivation, in terms of the qualification requirements specified in the advertisement

Information

• Location: Alesund, Norway

Industry experience

Education: Masters

Seniority: Expert, Engineer, Consultant

Taxonomy

• Drinking Water Treatment
• Smart City
• Digital Twins