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Salary: Grade 7, £35,308 - £43,155

Contract Type: Full Time (1FTE) Open Ended, Fixed funding for 3 years

Rewards and Benefits: 33 days annual leave, plus 9 buildings closed days (and Christmas Eve when it falls on a weekday) for all full time staff. Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.

The Medical Device Manufacturing Centre (https://mdmc.hw.ac.uk/) acts as a portal to provide medical device developers and manufacturers with the advice, technical expertise, and facilities essential for companies that are seeking to translate medical device concepts to commercial products. Our mission is to provide expert advice on manufacturing, engineering, regulatory issues and funding, coupled with technically supported access to manufacturing facilities. We aim to assist small and medium sized companies in the translation of medical device concepts through to small batch commercial prototypes. This service is free for Scottish SMEs.

Description of Project

The research associate will work within the MDMC (Medical Device Manufacturing Centre), which in Phase 2 is funded by Scottish Enterprise. The MDMC supports SMEs manufacturing medical devices, offering manufacturing, engineering, regulatory and business development expertise. This post would suit someone who enjoys working in a high paced environment, on a variety of relatively short-term projects.

MDMC Phase 2 involves 4 other universities, with significant technical activities at 3 of these, Dundee, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

MDMC facilities include various manufacturing techniques as well as a suite of analysis equipment. The technologies that are available include, but are not limited to: laser micro-machining, laser cutting, laser welding, 3D printing, spray jetting of conductive inks, low temperature co-fired ceramic, optical material modification, electro-discharge machining (EDM), injection moulding and suite of analysis equipment, including microscopes, SEM, optical surface profiler, polishing and sectioning equipment.

The applicant will be expected to work directly with Prof. Duncan Hand (Director), Prof Marc Desmulliez (Manager), Business Development Executive (to be appointed), Finance Administrator (to be appointed), Karen Allan (Administration), Dr Paulina Morawska, Dr Tamer Cosgun, Dr Joshua Paulinus (Technology Specialists). The role is also externally facing, interacting closely with our industrial clients. A professional manner and attention to detail are vital for the role.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Undertake tasks associated with the development of manufacturing solutions for industry clients, in particular Scottish SMEs.
• Teamwork with other Technology Specialists and other members of the team to ensure an excellent service to our clients from industry.
• Timely and accurate completion of administrative tasks associated with the role.
• Solve technical challenges / problems.
• Scientific and engineering research
• Analysis and interpretation of data
• Daily oversight of the activities in the laboratory
• Communicate with other MDMC staff, both at HWU and the other 4 MDMC universities
• Prepare reports and presentations to MDMC clients.
• Present results to industry clients and others.
• Undertake literature reviews and design studies.
• Identify, document and manage potential hazards, and design safe processes via preparation of risk assessments and COSHH.
• Responsibility for managing specialised laboratory equipment, including trouble-shooting and minor maintenance, and organising maintenance visits.
• Liaise with industry clients and external collaborators.
• Host tours of the MDMC laboratory facilities to a variety of visitors
• Keep up to date with latest relevant engineering developments.
• Develop procedures and working practices to ISO 13485 standards, and ensure that these are maintained.

Education, Qualifications and Experience

Essential

• Excellent communication skills;
• Degree-level qualification in a relevant area of Physics or Engineering or related subject
• Have completed a PhD (or submitted a PhD thesis by the starting date), or have equivalent experience;
• Ability to clearly articulate technical work, both in technical reports/papers and by oral presentation;
• Must have proven academic ability and a demonstrable high level of technical competence in experimental science and the analysis /modelling of the results;
• Ability to formulate and progress work on own initiative with evidence of technical ability, problem-solving, flexibility;
• Must be able to work as part of a team at Heriot-Watt and more widely with the collaborators at other Universities;
• Capability to be self-directed and think innovatively.
• Excellent attention to detail
• Ability for notes taking;
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and willingness to learn new software packages as required;
• Flexible approach to work and responsibilities;
• Experience of writing papers and/or reports.

Desirable

• Evidence of ability to present work effectively in person, e.g. at conferences and seminars;
• Experience in programming for data acquisition (e.g. LabVIEW) and analysis;
• Experience of using CAD;
• Experience in using COMSOL or similar computer modelling packages for engineering analysis;
• Evidence of ability, subject to opportunity, to guide other researchers, e.g. PhD students and undergraduate project students.

‘How to Apply'

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on 31 July 2023.

Please must submit via the Heriot-Watt on-line recruitment system (1) Cover letter describing their interest and suitability for the post; (2) Full CV that includes the list of publications

At Heriot Watt we are passionate about our values and look to them to connect our people globally and to help us collaborate and celebrate our success through working together. Our research programmes can deliver real world impact which is achieved through the diversity of our international community and the recognition of creative talent that connects our global team.

Our flourishing community will give you the freedom to challenge and to bring your enterprising mind and to help our partners with solutions that can be applied now and in the future. Join us and Heriot Watt will provide you with a platform to thrive and work in a way that also helps you live your life in balance with well-being and inclusiveness at the heart of our global community.

Heriot-Watt University is committed to securing equality of opportunity in employment and to the creation of an environment in which individuals are selected, trained, promoted, appraised and otherwise treated on the sole basis of their relevant merits and abilities. Equality and diversity are all about maximising potential and creating a culture of inclusion for all.

Heriot-Watt University values diversity across our University community and welcomes applications from all sectors of society, particularly from underrepresented groups. For more information, please see our website https://www.hw.ac.uk/uk/services/equality-diversity.htm and also our award-winning work in Disability Inclusive Science Careers https://disc.hw.ac.uk/ .

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.