Description:
This project investigates the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in creating predictive models for unpredictable material practices in architecture. AI and the use of advanced generative, search and predictive models are established parts of contemporary architectural modelling. They are mainly used to search the design space and optimise given design solutions.
However, new demands for sustainable design are challenging current practice and creating new opportunities for extending existing paradigms for design representation with methods of prediction. This project hypothesises that machine learning can be employed to develop new bio-based, graded material practices for architecture informed by material performance and integrated with intelligent fabrication. With a special focus on biopolymer composites, the project examines how machine learning can be used to predict behaviour and grade this with versatile, non-standard, robotic 3D printing. It examines the use of machine learning in three interconnected enquiries: predictive modelling of material behaviour in viscous biopolymers (subproject 1); predictive modelling for grading of biopolymer composition (subproject 2); and design-integrated, intelligent adaptive control for biopolymers (subproject 3). The three subprojects support and inform the overarching enquiry through a set of synergy-based activities that interface findings with architectural design-performance criteria.
The project supports UN Sustainable Development Goal 8.4 (Improve global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation) by developing new methodologies for sustainable production.
The four-year research project is interdisciplinary and establishes new collaborations between the Centre for IT and Architecture, the Department of Chemical Engineering, (DTU) and the University of Reading (UR).
Postdoc Focus
Designing with biopolymers necessitates a solid understanding of material behaviour, both as a finished material and during setting. These states are radically different: whereas wet setting states are highly pliable and thixotropic, dry states are structurally rigid. The postdoc supports the research effort of subproject 3. Subproject 3 develops intelligent adaptive fabrication processes for 3D printing biopolymers, with the aim of achieving better interaction between fabrication and material parameters.
The postdoc will investigate the connection of sensed material behaviour in the process of specifying robotic fabrication commands. The postdoc will propose different implementations of these intelligent adaptive robotic fabrication processes to incorporate, recognise and react to material behaviour during the fabrication process. She/He will develop methods and 3D printing hardware for adaptive material grading (print heads, control algorithms for steering printing parameters) via the extrusion of biopolymer slurry and linking of incoming sensor data to machine learning models.
By continuously integrating the findings of subprojects 1 and 2, fabrication criteria that take account of material characteristics, grading and setting times will be interfaced with the design model and the fabrication process itself.
The postdoc will work directly and primarily with the tasks outlined above together with the support of the other project members. There is also a reciprocal obligation to contribute to other work packages for the project where necessary. CITA’s participation in the project is led by Professor Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen and includes Associate Professors Paul Nicholas and Martin Tamke.
Centre for Information Technology and Architecture (CITA)
CITA is an innovative research environment that explores the area where emerging architecture and digital technologies converge. By exploring key research questions of how space and technology affect one another, CITA aims to identify how the current emergence of a digital practice impacts architectural thinking and design.
CITA places special focus on the use of IT as a tool for the design, production and communication of architecture with particular attention placed on material performance. CITA employs a practice-based research method focussed on design-led physical experimentation and full scale prototyping. The physical experiments act as material research inquiries through which the investigative concepts and technologies are tested and evaluated. The centre has an international profile and extensive experience of running funded research projects. It has initiated numerous international collaborations, exhibitions, conference presentations and workshop exchanges.
You can read more about CITA here: https://royaldanishacademy.com/CITA
About the position
The postdoc position will comprise research. There will be a limited amount of administrative tasks.
Your tasks will include, among others:
Research within the position’s focus area in collaboration with relevant external institutions, companies and networks, nationally and internationally, as well as with the other research and development fields at the institute and across the Royal Danish Academy as a whole.
Visionary and productive teamwork in the planning of future research and development projects, including active participation in applications for external funding and fundraising for the institute’s activities.
Strategic research-led teaching within the framework of the overarching research project and the administrative tasks associated with this for the Royal Danish Academy’s programmes, including the master’s programme Computation in Architecture
You will also be expected to participate in interdisciplinary teaching and research in collaboration with the Royal Danish Academy’s other institutes and staff, including by contributing to the content and development of the interdisciplinary teaching of common core subjects at the Royal Danish Academy, as well as other relevant tasks.
Requirements
You have a relevant education at Master's degree level as a minimum and a PhD degree or scientific qualifications at PhD level. We will also expect you to demonstrate:
Mature skills in adaptive robotic control are expected and must be demonstrated in the application.
Experience in operation, mechanical design and control systems of 3D printing extrusion system.
Experience in setting up computational sensing and tracking systems.
Mature skills in appropriate computational modelling methods and a solid understanding of the field and its key research drivers.
Skills in machine learning for fabrication are a positive.
As the Royal Danish Academy focuses on collaborative research and teaching both internally and externally in relation to business, public institutions and other higher education establishments, it will be an advantage if you have documented experience in the development, financing and completion of externally funded research projects and projects affiliated with business collaboration.
Your application will also benefit if you can demonstrate an interest in providing active research support to teaching at the institute in collaboration with the other researchers.
What we offer
We offer a creative, dedicated, stimulating and visionary educational and research environment. The job involves contributory influence, responsibility and the opportunity to leave your mark on research and teaching. We value good collegial collaboration with room for mutual inspiration and professional discussion.
Salary and employment conditions
Employment and remuneration will be in accordance with the agreement in force between the Danish Ministry of Finance and a number of organisations under the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC) for academics in public service. It will be possible to negotiate a qualifications bonus depending on your qualifications and experience.
Employment will also comply with the applicable job structure for artistic and scientific staff at the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation, the Aarhus School of Architecture and Design School Kolding – Executive Order no. 962 of 24 August 2015.
The postdoc is funded as a 15-month, full-time position. It is intended to be a 4/5 position with an average work week of 29.6 hours for 19 months. Entering into an agreement about the details of this will be part of the employment discussion.
The position is limited in duration and will end without further notice after 1 year and 7 months.
Sideline occupation will be accepted to the extent that this is compatible with attending to the job as postdoc.
Application
There are no application forms. Applications must be written in English and submitted by clicking the link in the call.
Applications must include:
A reflection on the stated research aims of the project in the form of proposed theoretical orientations, comparison to existing research and a proposal of the principle methods to be employed in project development (max. 5 pages).
CV.
Documentation of educational merits, diplomas and PhD qualification, other qualifications and previous activities.
A list of publications including copies of examples relevant to the application.
A portfolio of previous works.
Please enclose any previous postdoc assessment(s), as well.
Please submit the application electronically by following the link below no later than 1 October 2021.
Please mail three copies of any supporting appendices that cannot be forwarded electronically with the application to the street address below so that these are received by the Royal Danish Academy before the application deadline:
The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation
Attn: Ellen Kruse Jacobsen
Philip de Langes Allé 10
DK-1435 Copenhagen K
Marked: Postdoc in adaptive control for robotic 3D extrusion of biopolymers for architectural design.
Applications and application documents received after the application deadline will not be included in the assessment.
Please note that the position is being advertised and will be filled in accordance with the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science’s ‘Executive Order of 12 April 2019 on the employment of artistic and scientific staff at the higher artistic educational institutions within the Ministry of Higher Education and Science’s area’.
After the expiry of the application deadline, the head of the institute, taking advice from the employment committee, will select the applicants who are to be assessed. The selection will be made according to an overall assessment of which applicants best meet the criteria in the vacancy notice according to the submitted application documents. In your application (including appendices), you should therefore make sure to document your compliance with the qualification requirements described in the vacancy notice.
After this, all applicants will be notified of whether their application has proceeded to evaluation, and the selected applicants will be informed of the composition of the committee. Subsequently, an expert assessment committee will assess the selected applicants in relation to the specific position. The assessment will be sent to each applicant with an option for the applicants to submit comments.
Further information
Information about qualification requirements, the application process and the e-recruitment system is available by contacting HR Officer Ellen Kruse Jacobsen by email at ekj@kglakademi.dk, or on tel.: +45 4170 1539.
Details about the academic content of the position are available by contacting Head of Institute Natalie Mossin, email: nmos@kglakademi.dk, tel.: +45 4170 1934.
General information about the Royal Danish Academy and the Institute of Architecture and Technology can be found at www.royaldanishacademy.com.
The Royal Danish Academy is a versatile workplace that regards diversity as a strength. Therefore, we urge all qualified, interested applicants to apply for the position.
About Royal Danish Academy
Royal Danish Academy - Architecture, Design, Conservation is an internationally recognised academy, which educates professionally creative graduates to the highest level, and develops new knowledge that creates value to society and the labour market. Royal Danish Academy is a government institution under the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, and it has approx. 1,700 students and 350 full-time staff equivalents. Read more about the Academy at our website www.royaldanishacademy.com.
More information:
The Royal Danish Academy – Architecture, Design, Conservation is issuing a call for a postdoc position (1 year and 7 months) with particular focus on adaptive control for robotic 3D extrusion of biopolymers for architectural design. The position is integrated in the ongoing research project “Predictive Response”, which investigates the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for creating predictive models for unpredictable material practices in architecture.
We are looking for a visionary academic profile who is dedicated to delivering results and disseminating knowledge, and who can help infuse the area with innovation. You will be expected to be able to add current knowledge and technology to the subject area, with a focus on process and method and the application of the most recent knowledge and state-of- the-art technology. We would like to strengthen the field of adaptive control for robotic 3D extrusion in general by supplementing our research competences in this area, while at the same time strengthening our networks and collaborative work – both nationally and internationally.
This call is for a 1-year and 7-month postdoc position that is fully integrated within the project. The postdoc will examine adaptive control mechanisms to control the 3D extrusion of slurry printed biopolymers. It will develop new intelligent adaptive fabrication processes, with the aim of achieving a better interaction between fabrication and material parameters by which to steer the fabrication of materials undergoing large state changes during printing and curing. With special focus on material grading and setting times, the postdoc will interface with other efforts in the project, where sensed data, tracking material behaviour in time, can be interfaced with the overall fabrication model. The postdoc will explore the use of machine-learning models to incorporate sensed material behaviour into the process of specifying robotic fabrication commands. The postdoc will become an integral member of the Centre for IT and Architecture (CITA) research team.
The position will be based at CITA as part of the Institute of Architecture and Technology (IBT). It is our ambition that the postdoc will start in January 2022.
Institute of Architecture and Technology
IBT combines architecture with studies of the importance of digital technologies in the development and use of materials, the design and performance of building structures and their fabrication. The institute focuses on how technologies, in critical interaction with architectural design, can enrich society and tackle global challenges – both in Denmark and abroad. The institute conducts research into material studies, building physics and tectonic innovation. The institute’s research and artistic development work often takes place in close interdisciplinary collaboration with relevant institutions and companies all over the world.
You can read more about IBT here: https://royaldanishacademy.com/institute/architecture- and-technology.
Framework
Predicting Response is a four-year project funded under the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF), Thematic Research on Digital Technologies (https://royaldanishacademy.com/case/predicting-response). The research project assembles an interdisciplinary team drawn from architecture and chemical engineering and includes: CITA, the Royal Danish Academy – Architecture (University of Reading) and the Department of Chemical Engineering (DTU).