£12.38 per hour + £1.49 holiday pay
Advertising End Date
07 Dec 2025

Role & Department Overview

This work will contribute to an ongoing significant investment in digital technology innovation with small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s) in the northwest of England: The Centre for Digital Innovation (CDI, https://centrefordigitalinnovation.ac.uk/). As part of the project you will work closely with an industry partner and receive support from the CDI team across the School of Engineering and the School of Computing and Communications that is working on R&D challenges that bridge between academia and industry.

The industrial partner manufacturers sub sea sonar devices. This internship will derive a set of calculations to tune the interface between a sonar transducer and the water. This will likely be in one of two forms, a multi material approach and a geometry approach. Research has been done in the area to give a starting point alongside guidance from the industrial partner. The second stage will involve utilising additive manufacturing processes to produce a prototype or several prototypes if possible. These will then be assembled and taken to the final stage of testing in water at the facility at Tritech International Ltd.

This internship is offered as part of a programme of opportunities for Lancaster University students and will be supervised by a member of staff and a representative from the business. The working pattern is a flexible one to be arranged with the company.
 
Preferred Start Date: 8th December 2025
Expected End Date: 28th February 2026
Location: On the Lancaster University Campus + At the premises of an external employer
Working Pattern: Up to 37 Hours per Week

Job Description

Sub sea sonar uses acoustic ceramic piezoelectric transducers to produce the sound wave that is subsequently bounced of the surrounding area and received by the unit. The frequency response of these transducers is limited by the waterproofing encapsulation. The aim of this role is to produce and improved interface between the water and the transducer. This is likely to be one of two ways, first using multiple thin layers of varying acoustic impedance materials, the second is to use a geometric pattern to increase the frequency response of the transducer. 
 
The project can be defined into four main phases.
1. Derive a set of calculations that will optimise the interface between a sonar transducer and the water it operates in. This will involve developing an understanding of the theoretical basis for the matching layers and also the geometrical design.
2. Design one or more interfaces that can be attached to the transducer and assembled into the sonar device.
3. Manufacture of the designs using both conventional and additive manufacturing techniques.
4. Assemble and test the transducers in the test facility at the industrial partners premises.
 

Person Specification

The successful candidate will be confident in deriving calculations based on research undertaken by them.
They will be proficient in CAD (either Solidworks or Autodesk Fusion 360) to enable the generation of the designs.
Have an understanding of additive manufacturing processes to enable manufacture of the devices.
Be familiar with experimental techniques to design a suitable test for assessing the effectiveness of the designs.
Keep accurate records and be proficient at writing technical reports to summarise the process and give the industrial partner all the information produced by the project.
 
Working in this role will help develop the following skills and experience:
  • Analysing
  • Exercising professional judgement
  • Research
  • Creativity
  • Integrity
  • Organisation
  • Perseverance
  • Problem solving
  • Verbal communication
  • Knowledge Sharing

Unless specified otherwise in the advert wording, this role is only open to individuals living in the UK. 

You are required to submit a cover letter to support your application. 

Applications without a cover letter or CV will not be considered, please ensure your CV and cover letter are tailored to yourself and the role you are applying for. 

Under the terms of this work, we endeavour to provide the advertised number of hours. However, hours are not guaranteed, and that work may cease if there is a fall in demand. 

Adverts that display a closing date should be treated as a guide. We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so we advise you to submit your application as early as possible to prevent disappointment.

Help and advice on making applications can be found on the Lancaster University Careers pages. Visit www.lancaster.ac.uk/careers.