[Ireland] Ph.D. Studentship in Vehicle Emissions & Urban Air Quality, University College Dublin
This project forms part of a multi-disciplinary Urban Environment Project funded by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency: “Decision-Support Tools for Managing Urban Environment in Irelandâ€Â. The goal of the overall project is to develop decision-support tools that will help to quantify the economic and environmental dimensions of change in urban areas in an integrated fashion.Environmental concerns associated with air quality, urban diversity and green spaces, climate change in an urban context, urban sprawl and urban transport will be considered in an integrated way through use of the MOLAND model for land use planning.
This PhD scholarship is concerned with the Urban Air Quality sub-project and will focus on:
- Establishing methodologies for estimating detailed, site-specific, emissions factors for road-transport-derived exhaust emissions (of Particulate Matter, NOx, CO, CO2 and unburned hydrocarbons) These factors will take account of engine and vehicle operating profiles which link to actual traffic flow patterns on the routes of interest. Real-world data will be derived from traffic management systems and from representative vehicles fitted with low-cost GPS instrumentation, combined with data available from on-board diagnostic systems.
- Utilisation of Computational Fluid Dynamics -based models for atmospheric dispersion of these emissions, based on 3-dimensional representations of urban landscape where real data has been obtained using Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) techniques.
- Estimating the indoor air pollution associated with different outdoor air quality characteristics, to facilitate modelling of the indoor-outdoor relationship, and subsequent integration into the MOLAND model.
The Ph.D. student will join a multi-disciplinary team based at the UCD Urban Institute Ireland, in University College Dublin.
The total funding available for this PhD scholarship is €25,000 per year, for 3 years. This covers a stipend, University Fees and an allowance for travel in connection with the project and for dissemination of results at conferences. The actual financial breakdown will vary depending on individual student circumstances. Note that University PhD registration fees differentiate between EU nationals and those with non-EU status.
Candidate Description
Candidates for this Scholarship should have a good honours degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related discipline.A strong grasp of fluid dynamics would be very desirable, as would an understanding of vehicle design and operating characteristics - insofar as these affect the production of exhaust emissions. The successful candidate will be a highly-motivated, research-focused, team player, capable of seamless integration into a high-level research programme, and of delivering high-quality research within the strict time constraints of this project.
Contact details for Further Information:
Dr. William J. Smith or Dr. David J. Timoney
School of Electrical, Electronic & Mechanical Engineering,
University College Dublin,
Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
william.smith@ucd.ie (Phone +353-1-7161902), or
david.timoney@ucd.ie (Phone +353-1-7161831)
Application Procedure
Please submit (by email) a CV describing your educational and other achievements, and a short statement explaining your particular interest in this project. Please include contact details of two academic referees.
Closing Date for Applications by email to Sheila.Convery@ucd.ie: Monday 21 August 2006
Filed under: Postgraduate
