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Positions Open

(1) (posted 3/1/2008) Postdoctoral position in modeling respiratory motion during cancer radiation therapy

Brief description: There is an opening for a postdoctoral research position in the Advanced Computational Research Laboratory at RPI, Troy, NY to work on an ongoing R01 research project sponsored by the National Institutes of Health on the modeling of respiratory motion from patient-specific 4D CT images. In external beam radiation treatment, a lethal radiation dose is delivered through precisely conformed external radiation to the tumor while sparing the adjacent healthy tissues. However, the current paradigm is based on an assumption that both tumor location and shape are known and remain unchanged during the course of radiation delivery. Such a favorable rigid-body relationship does not exist in anatomical sites such as the thoracic cavity and the abdomen, owing predominantly to respiratory motions. When the tumor-bearing normal organs move during radiation therapy, discrepancies between planned and actually delivered radiation doses can be quite significant. As a result, although higher radiation doses have shown better local tumor control, organ motions have unfortunately required less aggressive treatment strategies having relatively large dose margin to tolerate potential targeting errors. To overcome this problem we are developing physics-based, 4D motion-simulating virtual-human models to study complex radiation interactions in tissues and dose distribution patterns for various radiation delivery strategies using advanced Monte Carlo simulations.   

Qualifications:        

  1. PhD in Computational/Applied Mechanics or related field
  2. Sound background in continuum Mechanics
  3. Knowledge in Biomechanics
  4. Sound background in nonlinear finite element analysis.
  5. Experience in large scale computational code development in C++ necessary
  6. Experience in code development on massively parallel systems highly desirable

RPI is home to CCNI, the most powerful university-based supercomputing facility in the world (7th in the top 500 list)

 

Application procedure:

Interested candidates may apply to Professor Suvranu De (des@rpi.edu) with a cover letter, detailed CV, a copy of the publication deemed as best representative of the candidate’s creative research, and names and email addresses of three referees. Applications from minority and women are especially encouraged. RPI is an Equal opportunity/ Affirmative Action employer.

 

(2) (posted 2/21/2008) Postdoctoral position in multiscale modeling

There is an opening for a postdoctoral research position in the Advanced Computational Research Laboratory at RPI, Troy NY to work on an ongoing project involving the multiscale modeling of particulate composites under extreme loading conditions. This is a great opportunity to be involved in challenging multiscale computational techniques based on meshfree methods. Encouraged to apply are creative, self-motivated candidates with a sound background in computational mechanics.

Qualifications:

1.      PhD in Computational/Applied Mechanics or related topic.

2.      Sound background in nonlinear solid mechanics.

3.      Sound background in FEM technology and/ or meshfree or generalized finite element techniques. Prior experience in multiscale modeling is a plus.

4.      Experience in large scale computational mechanics code development in C++ necessary.

5.      Experience in code development on parallel machines is highly desirable.

Contact:

Interested candidates are encouraged to send a cover letter, CV, three representative publications and names and contact information for three references to:

Professor Suvranu De

des@rpi.edu

 

(3) (posted 4/17/2007) Positions open: PhD/ post doc (multiple) at the Advanced Computation Research Lab, RPI, Troy, USA  

 Project: Physically realistic virtual surgery

Collaborator: Harvard Medical School


Brief description: The Advanced Computational Research Laboratory, affiliated with the  Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA invites applications for several doctoral and postdoctoral positions.

The goal of this research, funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the NIH is to develop real time computer simulation technology that will vastly improve how surgeons are trained to perform surgery. This technology will be based on advanced computational algorithms and physical modeling. 

Desired background:

We are looking for exceptionally talented individuals with essentially two types of backgrounds with some or all of the  desired qualifications :

Modeling and Simulation Soft Tissue Biomechanics
  • Degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science or related field .
  • Strong background in Computer Graphics. Specific knowledge in real time rendering is a plus.
  •  Excellent programming skills especially in C++
  •   Experience in developing applications for virtual environments involving haptics.
  • Experience with GPU and CUDA
  •  Background in high performance scientific computations
  •   Experience in developing 3D interactive applications using OpenGl
  •   Sound background in mechanics and finite elements
  •   Degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering or related field necessary.
  • Experience in performing biomechanical experiments on soft tissues
  •  Knowledge in soft tissue mechanics and constitutive modeling
  •  Background in human performance evaluation especially for medical trainers.

Application procedure:

Interested candidates may apply to Professor Suvranu De (des@rpi.edu) with a cover letter, detailed CV, a copy of the publication deemed as best representative of the candidate’s creative research, and names and email addresses of three referees. Applications from minority and women are especially encouraged. RPI is an Equal opportunity/ Affirmative Action employer.

(4) RPI undergraduates from MANE, IT and CS departments are encouraged to apply for URP positions for credit or pay every semester. Details of our research can be found in the  Advanced Computational Research (ACoR) Lab  website.

Current projects:

Teletouch : This project involves the development of virtual reality games over the internet involving touch interactions. Students design and develop interactive applications using force feedback joysticks.

Expressive musical haptics : This project involves the development of intuitive haptic interfaces and software for virtual music. 

An intuitive interface for nanotechnology : This project involves the development of an intuitive interface to the nanoscopic world. Data obtained from the atomic force microscope will be made "palpable" using a haptic interface device
Please send resumes to des@rpi.edu before the URP application deadline.