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Part-Time Research Assistant
Company
Role
Part-Time Research Assistant
Location
United States of America
Job type
Part time
Posted
1 hour ago
Salary
Job description
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JOB DESCRIPTION AND POSITION REQUIREMENTS
The College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering is seeking applicants for part-time job of Research Assistant.
Job duties to include:
Develop a data-driven, physics-informed modeling framework to improve the predictive capability of population balance models (PBMs) for stirred media milling. The project addresses a key limitation of conventional PBMs, which rely on empirical selection, breakage, and classification functions that are typically calibrated using bulk particle size distribution data and do not explicitly capture the complex, heterogeneous physics inside the mill.
The research will integrate DEM-CFD simulation data to resolve the underlying microscale mechanisms governing particle breakage. A physics-informed graph neural network (PI-GNN) framework will be constructed, where the mill domain is represented as a spatial graph. In this representation, nodes correspond to coarse-grained spatial regions, and edges capture local transport and interaction pathways.
The PI-GNN will be trained to learn spatially distributed PBM closure terms using local physical descriptors obtained from DEM-CFD simulations, including solids fraction, velocity fields, shear rate, pressure, shear stress, granular temperature, contact density, collision frequency, and energy dissipation. These learned closures will then be embedded into a PBM solver to predict particle size distribution evolution and to identify high-energy breakage regions within the mill.
The overall objective is to establish a multiscale modeling framework that links particle-scale physics with macroscale milling performance, enabling more accurate and physically grounded predictions of grinding efficiency. This work will serve as a proof-of-concept for incorporating machine learning–based closures into mechanistic comminution models.
Compensation:
The starting rate for this job is $41.19.
BACKGROUND CHECKS/CLEARANCES
Employment with the University will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies.
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