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Opportunities
Charter Studentship in Climate Change/Design/Requirements Engineering
added 8 July 2009
When developing computer systems, it is important to model the world in which they operate as well as what happens within the machine, in order to ensure requirements are met. There is however, no guarantee that the software engineers involved have an adequate understanding of that world. This issue is sharply highlighted in the case of energy and the urgent need to address climate change. In this case, the software engineers would need to engage not just with a whole array of specialist technology, but also understand the social and legal issues involved in addressing complex areas of government policy. In this project you would look at how energy and climate change expertise and policy can be made accessible to software engineers, in forms that can be readily used in modeling systems and their operational environment. You would work with experts in both Software Engineering and Energy and Climate Change, so you would need to embrace an interdisciplinary approach.
For further information, or informal discussion about the position, please contact : Dr Robin Laney (r.c.laney@open.ac.uk) or Dr Stephen Peake (s.r.peake@open.ac.uk)
Please see this link for other charter studentships http://www.open.ac.uk/research/research-degrees/charter-studentships---mct.php
PhD projects
We are currently looking for full-time PhD students. If you have a particular area of interest or are simply interested in doing a PhD in design research please look at the Open University Research Prospectus for general information. For more specific information please contact Peter Lloyd.
We also supervise a large number of part-time PhD projects and are interested in hearing from anyone who would like to propose a research project. For many part-time students this relates closely to their work in professional practice.
Possible research areas for doctoral research in the Group
• Complexity and design
Application of complexity
theory to the design of products, processes and organisations. The group specialises in the structural dynamics of complex systems and their simulation.
• Computational design
Novel applications of computers in art and design; shape and shape grammars; haptic ‘touch and see’ interfaces; visual reasoning; generative methods including rule-based and knowledge-based information systems; product usability tools - rapid prototyping and 3D digitisation.
• Design and environment
Design of environment-friendly products; planning and design for reduced environmental impact; energy-efficient design of buildings and urban environments; sustainable design of products and services; transport strategy and policy; land use and transportation modelling; renewable energy systems development, policy and strategy.
Energy and Environment Research Unit (EERU)
Design and Innovation Group (DIG)
• Design and innovation
Management of successful design and innovation; design of user centred eco-friendly products and services; design and industrial competitiveness; benefits and costs of investment in design; creativity in design and innovation, and knowledge management.
Design and Innovation Group (DIG)
• Design theory and methods
Theoretical backgrounds to the practice of design; studies of design cognition and designers’ behaviour and performance; development of formalised design methods.
• Intelligent machines
Cooperating and swarm robots; complexity of socio-technical systems; pattern recognition; computer vision; education and entertainment robotics.
• Product design and development
Product usability analysis; complexity of designs and processes; planning design, manufacture and assembly; computer-aided design; methods and tools for representation and communication; graphics and information design.
• Robotics design
Kinematic design of dextrous and agile robotic systems; design of variable-geometry structures; autonomous robotic space systems.
Page Last Updated: 9 July, 2009