MH-32    Senior Researcher – Power Solutions for IoT

Contract Type: Full time/Fixed Term 24 months

Job Description

University College Cork, Tyndall National Institute invites applications for a senior researcher in the area of Power Solutions for IoT (Internet of things). We seek talented candidates ideally available to start immediately with strong motivation and leadership skills who will contribute as a strategic member to a dynamic and growing successful research team.  The role is ideally for post docs (or professionals with a demonstrated research excellence and leadership track record) with typically with 5 years’ experience looking for an opportunity to increase the impact and innovation elements of 2 exciting ‘powering the internet of things’ projects at Tyndall. These are (i) the EnABLES research infrastructure project that is coordinated by Tyndall www.enables-project.eu & (ii) the Irish government funded DTIF HOLISTICS project led by Tyndall and involving 12 other academic and industry partners developing wearable solutions for the med tech sector. The minimum academic qualification is an honour’s degree (or an equivalent international degree) in electronic engineering, physics, computer science or related relevant discipline along with 5 years relevant experience. The contract is initially for 24 months with a view to positioning the candidate for future feasibility study and project opportunities subject to capabilities shown and future funding opportunities. Such opportunities will be generated via project and proposal writing activities.

Tyndall National Institute (Tyndall), www.tyndall.ie, is Ireland’s largest research centre, specialising in defined areas of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Within Tyndall, the ICT4EE team is developing solutions for powering the internet of things encompassing energy harvesting, storage, micro power management and system integration for IoT applications.

Key Responsibilities

The researcher will lead a number of EnABLES feasibility studies that Tyndall has underway as part of its Transnational Access (TA) offering. The feasibility studies range from state of the art literature reviews to simulation model development to characterisation of IoT and ‘power IoT’ devices and systems across a broad range of applications. The researcher will also be responsible for working with ENABLES internal and external partners and taking a leading role in generating and supporting new feasibility studies. These TA studies are done free of charge for academic and industry applicant under EnABLES and are a seminal step in creating new partnerships and proposals.

The researcher shall also technically lead Tyndall’s power source system integration activities in the HOLISTICS project working closely with the PMIC (power management IC) designers as well as the other partners in the consortium developing energy harvesting and storage devices. This shall encompass the development of eSIP (energy system in package) demonstrators combining Tyndall technology with that of partners.

As this is a senior level role the candidate will be expected to have some experience in, or, at least exhibit an aptitude for stakeholder management (interactions with project partners).

The nature of the work will depend on project needs at a given point of time but will comprise some combination of the following:

• Micro-power energy harvesting modelling based on existing Tyndall platforms.
• Characterisation &/or development of energy harvesting and power management solutions for both projects.
• Characterisation of power consumption of IoT devices with a view to identifying optimization opportunities based on existing and emerging technologies.
• Conducting state of the art reviews (paper &/or bench studies) of energy harvesting devices, circuits and solutions.
• Develop early proof of concept ‘power IoT’ design solutions
• Interacting with developers of HOLISTICS use cases to understand their power source need and determine how to minimise power consumption and maximise harvesting of ambient energies where available.
• Generate material for high quality EnABLES & HOLISTICS publications (journal, posters, conference papers, patents, newsletters, social media).
• Travel as required to meetings, project partner sites and any other deployment sites to support installation, troubleshooting and operation of power IoT solutions.
• Maintain project engineering logs (hard copy and software) of all activities including engineering documents, meetings, reviews, results, IP generated, project correspondence, etc. in accordance to Tyndall’s ISO900 procedures.
• Execute duties in accordance with terms and conditions of both projects
• This is a hands on role and so the candidate needs to be practical, assertive and achievement orientated. It is also essential that technical and feasibility study reports are delivered in a timely manner in accordance with project terms.
• The successful candidate will be highly self-motivated and will contribute as an integral member of a dynamic and growing research team.
• The need to work flexible hours and to be adaptable in working practice is essential.
• Participate in Education and Public Engagement activities, as required.
• Ensure all activities are compliant with the Tyndall Quality Management system and required Health & Safety standards.
• Carry out any additional duties as may reasonably be required within the general scope and level of the post.

Essential Criteria

• Primary degree in engineering, physics, science or a relevant discipline to the role
• Typically, with 5 years’ relevant post graduate experience in industry or academia.
• Research experience in energy harvesting systems and techniques for ultra-low power IoT applications.
• Skills or understanding in any of the following energy harvester types; RF, PV, TEG or vibrational for low power IoT applications.
• Strong circuit level hardware design skills and a good familiarity of firmware design in the application of Ultra-Low Power IoT systems.
• Proven research leadership skills.
• The candidate will need to demonstrate strong analytical and problem solving capabilities.
• Good self-management, report writing skills and communication skills for interaction with project partners.
• A proven ability to work well in a team and an ability to independently take on projects and carry them out from initial requirements to prototype.

Desirable Criteria

• PhD in Electronic or Electrical Engineering or a related discipline
• A key research focus of the group is energy harvested autonomous sensors (wired or wireless) and so knowledge of the trade-offs required in low power systems is highly desirable.
• Good working knowledge of sensors in order to be able to select an optimum solution for a given application is desirable.
• Experience in development, modelling and integration of Energy Harvesting transducers, sensors, transceivers, microcontrollers, low power interface standards (e.g. I2C, SPI) and signal conditioning circuits.
• This includes interfacing energy harvested power sources to Wireless sensors and development of power storage strategies using batteries and super capacitors.
• Experience (minimum 5 year) in research or industry projects related to IoT devices and systems.
• Experience in implementing end to end Wireless Sensor system for low power IoT applications from sensor to cloud.

Appointment may be made on the Grade 6 scale (B) €50,042 – €59,746.  Salary placement on appointment will be in accordance with public sector pay policy.

For further queries please email Michael Hayes or Peter Haigh at michael.hayes@tyndall.ie, Peter.Haigh@tyndall.ie

Closing date of applications is 19th June 2020.

Application Instructions

Step 1 - Click here to download and complete the application form and indicate Job Reference MH-32.

Step 2 - Return the completed application form, together with your CV and motivation letter to careers@tyndall.ie.

Handwritten forms will not be accepted.  No late applications will be accepted.

A full candidate information pack is available to download by clicking here.

Please note that Garda vetting and/or an international police clearance check may form part of the selection process.

The University, at its discretion, may undertake to make an additional appointment(s) from this competition following the conclusion of the process.

At this time, Tyndall National Institute does not require the assistance of recruitment agencies.

Tyndall National Institute at University College, Cork is an Equal Opportunities Employer