Email: icrc@uwo.ca
The primary academic function of the ICRC is to facilitate the training of graduate students to conduct research, develop technology and transfer knowledge in fields associated with the processing and application of polymer composite materials.
ICRC graduate students will have the opportunity to complete an internship with the FPC or in a related industry in Ontario. An annual workshop with experts from industry and academia will be part of the experience for ICRC’s graduate students, including expert keynote lectures, student oral and poster presentations, condensed short course(s) and ample opportunities for networking.
The automotive sector is Canada’s second largest export industry, shipping $56 billion in assembled vehicles and $27 billion in parts, while directly employing over 120,000 workers and an estimated 280,000 workers in related employment. Since the recession, low skilled job positions have increasingly been drawn away to cheaper jurisdictions, yet demand for highly skilled workers has increased. General Motors, as an example, announced recently its need for over 1000 engineering positions at its Oshawa, ON facilities (Press release, June 8, 2016). Anticipated technology drivers in need of skilled employees center around consumer demand for autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles and regulatory demands for more fuel-efficient vehicles through advances in lightweight materials.
In a meeting with auto industry leaders, a focused discussion was held to better understand the skill profile of the ideal candidate for new engineering hires. In summary, the following key attributes were defined: 1. Technical Skills: Engineers require a fundamental understanding of thermoset and thermoplastic chemistry and the intimate relationships between processing, structure and mechanical properties of FRP materials. Furthermore, they must possess a balance of research and development skills and practical, ‘hands-on’ problem solving skills. 2. Professional Skills: Engineers must be able to manage complex projects – balancing project timelines with human, equipment and financial resources; they must be able to effectively communicate with, and transfer knowledge to, technical and non-technical audiences and they should appreciate the industrial development process through analytical frameworks enriched by in-depth and frequent interaction with industry partners.
The objectives of the ICRC CREATE program can be described in terms of Program Objectives and Training Objectives. Our long-term Program Objective is to achieve worldwide recognition for excellence in HQP training and research in the field of CoDiCoFRP materials with emphasis on applications in the automotive industry. The short-term Training Objectives of the program are that, on successful completion of the ICRC Training Program, graduates will: 1) demonstrate in-depth technical knowledge of at least one facet of the polymer composites value chain (their research focus area); 2) demonstrate a breadth of knowledge encompassing the interactions between material system, processing, microstructure, and resulting properties of polymer composite materials (the value-chain); 3) have received a minimum of four months of hands-on experience with state-of-the-art, industrial-scale processing equipment in both the North American and European markets; 4) be proficient at presenting their research results to both academic and industrial audiences in written and oral fora; 5) have developed their business acumen and are able to combine this with their technical knowledge in managing projects that effectively bring products to global marketplaces; and, specific to PhD trainees, 6) have taken part in an international research exchange up to 6 months at KIT in the research group of their co-supervisor.
To meet these objectives, the ICRC CREATE program curriculum has been assembled from existing and newly developed components to address the objectives described above. Each component is described in greater detail at this page. Some elements are listed as ‘optional’, acknowledging that i) Masters and PhD students will be given priority for the finite number of internship opportunities at FPC, and ii) the shorter residency period for Masters students may not permit an extended exchange abroad. Participation in optional components will, therefore, require the approval of the Academic Committee and the trainee’s supervisor.
Please follow the links below to learn more about the training program in detail:
Objectives of Training ProgramSubmit an online application
If you have any questions regarding the application process, contact the ICRC Program Coordinator at 519-661-2111 ext. 86725 or icrc@uwo.ca
Start date: September 2020 (or earlier)
Supervisor: Prof. Michael Thompson
Co-Supervisor: Prof. Andrew Hrymak
Description of the project:
Development of an intelligent quality assurance platform for the compounding of carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastics for automotive applications. The work will develop sensor technologies in collaboration with KIT (Germany) to monitor fibre properties (orientation, length/damage, aggregations) as well as general features like part density. The objectives will involve applications of machine learning to inline rheological and frequency-based ultrasonic analysis methods developed at McMaster/Western and an off-line thermographic visualization method developed by KIT. The intent will be to implement advanced sensor strategies to monitor composite flow behaviour in extrusion (Thompson) and injection molding machinery (Hrymak).
Departmental information related to the doctoral degree, and a link for applications, is found at the following link:
https://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/chemeng/programs/degree-options/phd/chemical-engineering
Applications may be directly submitted at the following link:
https://gs.mcmaster.ca/academic-services/how-apply
