This industry funded PhD scholarship has been established by Boeing Defence Australia to support a full-time PhD student to undertake research in the field of digital engineering. Engineering is moving towards digital engineering – an integrated approach that relies on connected sources of data that support system design and production. The connected nature of this information presents an opportunity to gain useful insight into the behaviour and performance of system variants, as they emerge during design and development, in order to investigate and improve design options during operations and sustainment. This work needs to move beyond simply aiming to connect disaggregated datasets, to provide genuine insight into options analysis for systems that take important whole-of-life data into consideration. The insights that occur from this rich, connected information have the ability to inform design decisions, enhance communication, and increase understanding, while reducing risk and cost.

This project aims to identify and realise the potential benefits of this connected data through the use of digital threads that support advanced data analytics within and across related but previously stove-piped areas. The research will benchmark the current state of digital engineering practice, before identifying key areas for exploring and exploiting the rich nature of the information captured. Practical, scalable and secure methods will then be developed to exploit these areas within a pilot project. This work will then be extended to solve the general case for a highly connected, cross-platform digital engineering environments to produce a widely applicable methodology for the realisation of engineered systems.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be Australian citizens who are acceptable as candidates for a PhD degree at the University of Adelaide.  

Stipend:

The scholarship will be for 4 years and has a stipend of $49,005 (indexed annually) per annum.

It is likely to be tax exempt, subject to Taxation Office approval.   

Enquiries:

Contact Person: Dr David Harvey

School/Discipline of:  School of Mechanical Engineering

Tel: 0403 757 275                Email: david.harvey@adelaide.edu.au

Applying:

Expressions of interest should be submitted to David Harvey (david.harvey@adelaide.edu.au) with the name of scholarship in the subject heading. Please ensure you include all of the following:

• Cover letter
• Academic transcripts
• Curriculum vitae