Summary
The Advanced Numerical Simulation Laboratory (ANSLab; PI: Dr. Carl Ollivier-Gooch) is seeking a graduate student for a collaborative project to develop high-order, curved meshing techniques to improve the accuracy of discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element methods. Recent work by our collaborator at the University of Tennessee has shown that optimal placement of high-order nodes can significantly improve the performance of DG methods compared with methods that place high-order nodes based only on geometric considerations. Our role in this project is to develop and test the meshing techniques required in two and three dimensions.
As the successful applicant, you will work together with me to assess the impact of improved meshing on flow solution accuracy and efficiency. A PhD applicant will also have the opportunity to contribute to algorithm development, software architecture design, and software implementation.
The ideal applicant for this position will have several characteristics:
- A demonstrated research interest in the broad area of scientific computing for partial differential equations; the specific discipline is less important, as the project lies at the intersection of engineering, applied math, and computer science. Applications in aerodynamics and/or fluid mechanics are a plus, as these are the target application areas for this project.
- Experience writing scientific computing software. For example, for a prospective PhD student, this would likely involve writing and verifying a substantial amount of code as part of a master's thesis or other research project. For a prospective master's student, my expectations are significantly lower, because fewer opporunities have come your way.
- Demonstrated success in technical communication.
PhD applicants: a master's thesis, plus ideally one or more peer-reviewed journal articles and/or conference presentations.
Master's applicants: a capstone design project report, summer research internship report, or the like.
Other characteristics that are positive, though not essential:
- Experience coding in C++, as the research software used in this project is written in C++.
- Familiarity with using a source code management system for collaborative software development.
- Experience with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and/or unstructured mesh generation. Familiarity with applications in aerodynamics or other high-Reynolds number flows is particularly an asset.
- A history of collaborative research or project work.
This position will start on or about May 1, 2025, or as soon thereafter as the chosen candidate is available. Starting RAship stipend will be Can$30,000 for a PhD student and Can$27,000 for a masters student.
A complete application package will include a CV, a graduate transcript, a list of references, and source code samples.
Sources code samples should be from some substantial scientific computing project. This should be in the form that you'd turn it over to a junior student to work on after you leave, in terms of readability and documentation. Large chunks of code are fine; I'd rather have more information than I need than not enough.
Also, please provide answers to the following questions:
1. What do you think is the greatest strength that you would bring to the group?
2. What is the area in which you expect to learn / improve the most?
3. What is the thing that you're the most curious about / would most like to know more about? (Whether or not it's something that you can see yourself working on personally.)
4. What's the biggest non-research draw of UBC for you?
For more information about the research group, please see http://anslab.mech.ubc.ca.
About UBC
The University of British Columbia is located in beautiful Vancouver, a culturally rich and diverse city on Canada's west coast. The University's Point Grey campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people, who have lived on this land since time immemorial, caring for the land and passing on their knowledge and traditions to each new generation.
Both mountain and ocean activities are easily accessible from Vancouver, as well as the amenities and attractions of Canada's third-largest city. Unlike most of Canada, Vancouver has a mild, though wet, climate.
