Engineering | Scholarship for Nigerians and Africans - Part 70

PhD Studentship in Materials Research, Nottingham Trent University, UK

The School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment at Nottingham Trent University has an ambitious development strategy which allows us to offer an exciting opportunity for a PhD Studentship. The studentships will pay UK/EU fees and provide a maintenance stipend linked to the RCUK rate (£13,590 per annum for 2011/12) for up to three years. Applications are invited from those looking to pursue doctoral study in the subject area of materials research. The research area should aim to implement the scientific knowledge of innovative materials for high-performance applications and/or demonstrate the strategic use of resources utilising new materials and techniques for existing products and processes. Research areas could include a design application related to healthcare, energy, textiles, communication, displays/ lighting, plastics, packaging, sensors/sensing materials or nanotechnology.
The University has recently established a Materials Research Group. This is a new and ambitious innovation that aims to bring together researchers who share an interest in materials from across the University. The group also extends as a research hub connecting with higher education institutions, funding bodies and private enterprise world wide. It also allows individual members to communicate and engage with colleagues and external partners including innovation networks and knowledge transfer networks. The materials research group will also subscribe to a system to distribute research funding calls.

Scholarship Application Deadline: 15 April 2011

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PhD Position at LIRMM-INRIA, Montpellier, France: Whole body control framework for lower limb stability in computational rehabilitation

INRIA is the French national institute for research in computer science and control. DEMAR project’s research interests are centered on the human sensory motor modeling, including muscles, sensory feedbacks, and neural motor networks.

research direction:
Identification of biomechanical dynamics and muscle dynamics for neurologically damaged patient is already challenging as the system
response can drastically vary depending on the degree of the patient deficiencies. In FES (Functional Electrical Stimulation), movement
synthesis and control are still a challenging task due to the complexity of whole body dynamics computation and the nonlinearity of
stimulated muscle dynamics. One of the challenge concerns the feedback (torque, EMG, joint angle) that can be used to control joint angle,
torque or stiffness. Moreover, control strategies have to be designed in order to be performed on portable architecture and tuned through
advanced modeling and simulation.
In this context, the goal of this PhD work is to study the optimization-based motion synthesis and real-time control framework
which can generate stimulation patterns from the pre-computed motion synthesis database. Motion capture system together with the estimation of the Center of Mass would be used to assess the strategies. This work aims at the development of automatic method to establish deficient limb stability in computer-aided rehabilitation.
This PhD work is performed under the collaborative project named @walk (artificial walking) between INRIA DEMAR project and AI lab of
Stanford University.

Research background:
-Master in control engineering, computer science, biomechanics, robotics or related disciplines.
– good knowledge of C/C++ programming and matlab.

Scholarship Application Deadline: Contact Employer

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Graduate Assistantship Position at University of West Florida, USA

The Department of Environmental Studies and the Online GIS Certificate Program at The University of West Florida invite applications for a twelve-month Graduate Assistantship to begin as early as August 22, 2011. Compensation includes tuition (36
credits) towards M.S. Environmental Science and salary (14k per year for two years). The successful candidate will be expected to assist in online GIS Certificate Program courses such as Introduction to GIS, Cartography, Remote Sensing + Photo Interpretation, and GIS Programming as well as provide assistance with outreach activities. Requirements include a B.S. or B.A. in Geography, Environmental Studies, or related degree, 3.2 GPA, 1000 on GRE, acceptance to graduate program, and eligibility to work in the United States. The ideal candidate must demonstrate theoretical and practical experience with GIS, communicate effectively both orally and in writing, and be organized, productive and ethical.Applicants are encouraged to visit http://www.uwf.edu/gis/gisonline/

Apply: Send the following materials in PDF format: (1) A cover letter including experience, academic and research interests and (2) résumé to Amber Bloechle, GIS Online Coordinator (abloechle@uwf.edu). Email Ms. Bloechle for inquiries.
Submit the following to the Office of Graduate Admissions by May 10, 2011:
1. An on-line graduate admission application https://nautical.uwf.edu/utility/admissionapp/ui/graduate/ along with official transcripts of all
college work and a nonrefundable processing fee.
2. A formal letter of interest, background, and professional goals, including a preference for the thesis or non-thesis track. Applicants for the thesis track are encouraged to contact departmental faculty in their field of interest before applying to secure availability of a thesis
advisor.
3. Three letters of recommendation by individuals in professionally relevant fields.
4. A current curriculum vitae.
5. Official scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). A minimum ranking in the50th percentile and 40th percentile for the verbal and quantitative parts of the GRE
respectively are recommended by the department.
Department of Environmental Studies, University of West Florida, 11000 University Pkwy, Pensacola, FL 32514. Ph: (850) 474-2746 Fax: (850) 857-6036
Scholarship Application Deadline:Review of applications will begin March 21, 2011 and continue until the position is filled. The University of West Florida is an Equal Opportunity/Access/ Affirmative Action Employer. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.

Further Scholarship Information and Application