Building on its strengths as Australia’s leading regional University, UniSQ’s vision is to be renowned for innovation and excellence in education, student experience, research and engagement. Guided by our core values of respect, integrity and excellence, the University’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025 outlines our commitment to creating and sharing knowledge, transforming lives and solving the problems that matter to our world.

Together with international partners such as NASA, DLR (German Space Agency) and Boeing, our Institute for Advanced Engineering and Space Sciences (IAESS) is leading the way in several space-related fields including hypersonics and rocketry, astrophysics and advanced materials.

The Hypersonics and Rocketry Group is currently offering three iLAuNCH Trailblazer Industry PhD scholarships. Hypersonics and Rocketry is a flagship group within the UniSQ, hosting Australia’s only long-duration hypersonic wind tunnel. In recent years the group has experienced substantial growth and has been very successful in winning competitive grants and forming international collaborations and partnerships. The group is a leading part of the iLAuNCH Trailblazer, which is part of the Australian Government’s investment to build Australia’s sovereign space capability by addressing critical gaps and accelerating the development of a space technology sector.

Higher Degree Research (HDR) training is an important component in advancing fundamental knowledge, developing new technology, and developing a talent pipeline to for the Australian and international Aerospace Industry. Our HDR students work in close collaboration with industry and funders ensuring they have multiple career opportunities at completion of their studies.

What you’ll do

We are looking for candidates interested in working on one of the following projects – refer to following section for further details.

• Project A: Expanding the scramjet operating envelope through oxygen enrichment.
• Project B: Enhanced hypersonic aerodynamics and stability models through Hardware in the Loop ground tests in TUSQ.
• Project C: Development of an AI/ML-enabled space surveillance mission for hypersonic missile defence.

We operate as a small closely knit research group, meaning that there will be opportunities to engage across multiple technology areas, which helps develop a broad range of research skills. In addition to project-specific research expertise you will have opportunities to participate in the following research activities:

• Ground-based and airborne observation or hypervelocity re-entry events
• Simulation of hypersonic flows, high-speed flows, aero-thermodynamics, radiation, multi-physics, and other phenomena.
• Development of simulation codes, models, and optimisations algorithms.
• Design and mission evaluation of hypersonic vehicle concepts.
• Experiments and development of diagnostics methods for hypersonic ground test in the TUSQ wind tunnel
• Simulation of dynamic systems including gas turbines and high-speed vehicles.
• Application of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to fluid dynamics and system modelling.

What will help you succeed

Together with Honours (or Masters) qualification in Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mathematics (applied) or a relevant discipline you will have:

• Keen interest in the research area.
• Motivated to develop a deeper understanding and to push the boundaries of current tools or experimental capabilities.
• Inquisitive nature and keen interest
• Due to current sensitivities surrounding research related to Hypersonics, some projects are restricted to students from Australia and countries on the Defense Trade Controls, Foreign Countries List – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States

For further information about these opportunities, and to apply, please contact:
Associate Professor Ingo Jahn, via +61 7 3470 4385 or ingo.jahn@unisq.edu.au.
Associate Professor Fabian Zander, via +61 7 4631 1195  or fabian.zander@unisq.edu.au

We support and encourage applications from all diversity groups. With an increasingly diverse workforce, we understand that careers may be placed on hold or limited throughout many life circumstances.

Applications are managed through the University of Southern Queensland Graduate School. Refer to their website for application details https://www.unisq.edu.au/research/graduate-research-school.

Scholarship: Successful applicants will receive a scholarship of $33,000–$50,000[1] pa (tax-free) for a duration of 3-years, with the option for a 6-month extension. HDR candidates have opportunities to earn additional income through tutoring or through tunnel operator scholarships. Additional benefits include conference attendance and travel (domestic & international).

Project Descriptions

Project A:

Primarily this is a simulation/numerical modelling project.
In this project we investigate how expanding the operating envelope of scramjets to higher altitudes and speeds by enriching their fuel with oxygen benefits the performance of scramjet-powered access to space systems. In particular, you will be working on the simultaneous trajectory and vehicle design optimisation to co-design a system that results in optimal mission performance (e.g. maximises payload to orbit). The developed co-design methodology and associated analysis and optimisation algorithms will have a wide applicability across multiple disciplines.

You will acquire the following research skills/expertise through this project:

• Develop algorithms for the efficient multi-disciplinary optimisation – co-design of hypersonic and other aerospace platforms.
• Application of advanced differentiation and modelling approaches for the efficient analysis of dynamic systems.
• Application of Machine Learning and development approximate simulation methods for efficient modelling of hypersonic vehicles and vehicle sub-systems.
• Conduct aerothermal simulations (CFD & FEA) of hypersonic vehicles.
• Develop new insight on how to design vehicles that are efficient at achieving specific missions.

Project B:

Primarily this is an experimental project.
The test times of the TUSQ hypersonic wind tunnel make it feasible to conduct Hardware in the Loop (HiL) experiments in hypersonic flows. That is performing quasi free-flight experiments in the wind tunnel and to develop a better understanding of vehicle stability and flight control for manoeuvring hypersonic vehicles.

You will acquire the following research skills/expertise through this project:

• Simulation, analysis, and design of miniature models, controllers, and actuators to support testing in TUSQ.
• Plan and execute experiments in the TUSQ wind tunnel to measure aerodynamic forces (and/or moments) acting on models and how these are affected by model manoeuvres.
• Apply diagnostics methods to measure forces, moments, and flow features pertinent to the experiments.
• Design and implement control strategies and evaluate these through modelling and experiments.
• Apply machine learning approaches to systematically capture discrepancies between experimental results and a priori

Project C:

Primarily this is a simulation/numerical modelling project.
This project is part of a larger multi-partner project to develop an advanced space surveillance system for missile defense. UniSQ’s contribution to the project is to model the radiation signatures of hypersonic vehicle, trajectory modelling and mission analysis. This means you will perform component and full vehicle simulations to characterise how they radiate due to the aerothermodynamic heating effects. The output from these simulations is the radiation intensity and spectra that is visible from satellites in low-earth-orbit.

You will acquire the following research skills/expertise through this project:

• Conduct aerothermal simulations (CFD & FEA) of hypersonic vehicles (or vehicle features) and then use radiation physics and heat transfer principles to characterise associated infrared emissions.
• Perform spectral analysis to identify the precise wavelengths at which the vehicle (or vehicle features) emits radiation and the resulting emission signature.
• Develop mathematical models to predict the trajectories of hypersonic vehicles and associated signatures, including the effect of factors such as speed, altitude, or evasive manoeuvres.
• Perform trajectory and transient simulations to show how signatures evolve across a typical mission.

[1] Scholarship above $33,000 pa include project-specific top-ups, are reliant on progress through candidature milestones, and may require participation in laboratory activities such as tunnel operation.