Research opportunities supervised by Dr Keith Alexander include:
Email supervisor: keith.alexander@canterbury.ac.nz
Watercraft Project
Degree: PhD
Project Description: This project is an industry-funded project. It follows on from two earlier, related projects.
It involves:
- Experimental testing
- Developing a comprehensive understanding of the hydrodynamics of the propulsor
- And working towards the design of a full-scale craft
- On completion of the PhD there is the potential for the candidate to be employed to continue with the development
The preferred candidate will be have:
- A strong interest in fluid dynamics and watercraft,
- An interest in experimental testing,
- A capability with modeling hydrodynamic forces,
- And ideally a flair for mechanical engineering design.
Renewable Energy: Wave Energy Research
Degree: PhD
Project Description: This project is an IRL-funded project. It will overlap with an existing PhD project. It will include close cooperation with the IRL sponsors running the WET-NZ project.
This research involves:
- Coming to understand the mathematical models recently developed by the current PhD student
- Extending these models to better describe the design constraints for Wave Energy Collectors
- Proposing some designs for Wave Energy Collectors
- Validating these designs using existing wave generator equipment or other suitable facilities
The preferred candidate will be have:
- A strong interest in fluid dynamics and renewable energy,
- A particular strength in math
- An interest in experimental testing,
- And ideally a flair for mechanical engineering design.