Research Engineer (Structural/Finite Element Analysis for Maritime Drone Operations)

Nanyang Technological University · Singapore

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The School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering (MAE) is a robust, dynamic and multi-disciplinary international research community comprising of world-class scientists and bright students. MAE prides itself in its excellent research capabilities in areas including advanced manufacturing, aerospace, biomedical, energy, industrial engineering, maritime engineering, robotics, etc. The school is equipped with state-of-the-art research infrastructure, housing a comprehensive range of cluster laboratories, test bedding facilities, research centres/institutes and corporate laboratories. Cutting-edge research in MAE addresses the immediate needs of our industries and supports the nation’s long-term development strategies. In the new era of industrial 4.0 and sustainable living, MAE is rigorous in developing new competencies to support the growth and competitiveness of our engineering sector in the global landscape. MAE has grown to be leader in Engineering Research, ranking amongst the top engineering schools in the world.

For more details, please view https://www.ntu.edu.sg/mae/research.

We are looking for a Research Engineer in Structural/Finite Element Analysis for Maritime Drone Operations to investigate the risk that multirotor drone collisions pose to vessels operating in maritime environments. The role will focus on developing and executing finite element analysis (FEA) simulations of drone-vessel impacts, estimating structural damage to critical vessel subsystems, and translating simulation outputs into damage severity classifications and risk matrices that feed into the project’s separation-assurance framework and the Maritime Digital Twin. The role will also be involved in developing data-driven or physics-informed surrogate models of the FEA simulations to enable fast, generalizable damage predictions across a range of drone and vessel scenarios.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop finite element analysis (FEA) frameworks to estimate structural damage from multirotor drone-vessel collisions in maritime environments.

• Formulate impact analysis problems, including drone impact trajectories, weight classes, vessel component geometry and material properties, and structural damage severity classification.

• Develop and execute nonlinear/explicit dynamic FEA simulations (e.g., ANSYS, Abaqus) covering mid-flight and landing-phase crash scenarios on different vessel types.

• Develop methods to translate structural damage severity into functional-impact and risk classifications for critical vessel subsystems.

• Develop data-driven or physics-informed surrogate models trained on FEA outputs to accelerate damage-severity prediction, reducing reliance on repeated simulations.

• Integrate damage estimation outputs with crash-area prediction and separation-assurance models within the project’s overall risk framework and the Maritime Digital Twin.

• Identify and prioritise critical versus non-critical vessel components and zones, working with vessel operators and the classification society to obtain relevant structural data.

• Design and conduct simulation experiments, sensitivity analyses, and validation studies to evaluate damage estimation accuracy, robustness, and generalisation across vessel types.

• Work with PhD students, research fellows, vessel operators, drone operators, and project collaborators to support system integration, testing, validation, and demonstration.

• Prepare technical reports, research publications, presentations, project deliverables, and documentation for stakeholder and expert review.

Job Requirements:

Education qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Material Science and Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, or a closely related discipline.

• Strong academic or project background in finite element analysis, structural mechanics, or impact/crash simulation.

• Research or project experience in maritime/naval structures, impact studies, or structural damage assessment would be advantageous.

Soft skills

• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.

• Strong sense of ownership, responsibility, and initiative.

• Ability to work effectively with researchers, engineers, students, industry partners, and project stakeholders.

• Willingness to support project reporting and milestone reviews.

Hard skills

• Demonstrated hands-on experience with FEA software, specifically nonlinear or explicit dynamic solvers used for impact/crash simulation (e.g., Abaqus Explicit, LS-DYNA, or ANSYS Explicit Dynamics).

• Competent in structural mechanics, material behaviour under dynamic/impact loading, and failure/damage modelling.

• Familiarity with drone dynamics or aerospace impact studies would be advantageous.

• Scripting ability (e.g., Python) for simulation automation, post-processing, or coupling FEA outputs with downstream risk models.

• Experience translating engineering simulation results into risk matrices or decision-support outputs for non-specialist stakeholders would be beneficial.

• Programming skills in Python or MATLAB for simulation data processing and analysis would be an advantage.

• Familiarity with surrogate modelling and physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) for generalising simulation-based predictions would be an advantage.

Experience

• Experience integrating simulation, damage/risk assessment, and reporting workflows within a research or engineering project framework.

Competencies

• Ability to scope, build, and validate simulation models independently from limited or partial input data.

• Ability to work across structural engineering, impact mechanics, and maritime domains.

• Ability to deliver research outcomes within project timelines and contribute to high-quality publications.

We regret to inform that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

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