An opportunity to work on a two-year $2 million U.S. Department of Energy REMADE Institute sponsored project at the University of Michigan in close collaboration with Ford, Novelis, Argonne National Lab, Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries, Light Metal Consultants, and The Aluminum Association. The goal of this project is to increase automotive steel and aluminum sheet metal end-of-life (post-consumer) recycled contents; thus, reducing vehicle embodied energy and primary feedstock consumption. The objectives are to produce a new analytical design for recycling tool tailored for automotive metal sheet, and to generate new knowledge on how end-of-life sheet recycling is affected by vehicle design, recycling system infrastructure, and sheet manufacturing process decisions. The role of each post-doc position is described below.
Post-doc 1: This position will focus on: (1) Producing quantitative metrics and characterizations of recycling parameters relevant to vehicle life cycle system design using data from leading U.S. steel and aluminum sheet suppliers, car manufacturers, and recyclers; (2) Coordinating with the Argonne National Lab team on integrating these models into a new version of the GREET model (https://greet.es.anl.gov/); and (3) Estimating the U.S. scale environmental and economic benefits of design for high-value recycling of aluminum and steel automotive sheet. The following broad experiences and skill sets are useful but not essential:
- Experience using the GREET model
- Life cycle assessment approaches for recycling
- Sheet metal forming and the influence of alloying and thermomechanical processing on steel and aluminum mechanical properties
- Automotive joining and coating processes
- Modeling or direct experience of recycling systems
Post-doc 2: This position will focus on: (1) Developing ecosystem scenarios (e.g., spatially resolved dynamic material flow analyses) and disassembly, separation and refining purification models for different scrap streams and conventional and emerging recycling technologies; (2) Developing reverse supply chain optimization models for recycling; and (3) Coordinating with the Argonne National Lab team on integrating these models into a new version of the GREET model (https://greet.es.anl.gov/). The following broad experiences and skill sets are useful but not essential:
- Dynamic material flow analysis
- Optimization and Linear Programming
- Modeling or direct experience of recycling systems
- Experience using the GREET model
Both post-docs will also be expected to help to guide graduate students on the project, organize workshops, and write journal articles and progress reports. Post-doc 1 will be co-advised by Dr. Daniel Cooper (Mechanical Engineering) and Dr. Gregory Keoleian (Center for Sustainable Systems). Post-doc 2 will be advised by Dr. Daniel Cooper. Both positions require excellent organizational, written, and verbal communication skills.
The anticipated start date for both positions is September 1st 2021 but there may be some flexibility to organize earlier or later start dates. The deadline for applications is April 30th 2021 or until the positions are filled. For informal enquiries, please contact Dan Cooper. Formal applications should take the form of a CV, cover letter, and writing sample (e.g., a recent first author journal article) emailed to Dr. Dan Cooper, drcooper@umich.edu, with the subject heading “Application for Post-doc Position on the Clean Sheet Project”. In the email, please state which (or both) of the above post-doc positions is of interest.