Job Description:

This internship opportunity involves the research and development of a hybrid energy storage system which allows Lithium-Ion battery life extension in remote and long-lived space infrastructure, such as a lunar base, through the pairing of a second battery with substantially different operational characteristics.

As part of this internship, the successful candidate will:

1) Conduct an extensive review of advances in terrestrial hybrid battery technology and implementations

2) Based on information gathered, propose design requirements and constraints for a lunar-based hybrid battery technology

3) Conduct a literature survey of previously proposed lunar base microgrid architectures and concepts of operation.

4) Based on information gathered, propose design requirements and constraints for a lunar-based microgrid architecture.

5) Possible stretch-goal, depending on candidate background: propose a baseline lunar microgrid architecture for study and build a basic Matlab Simulink model of the main architecture elements.

The successful applicant should have the following qualities and abilities:

Academic:

Details of the proposed tasks can be tailored for the intern. Examples of relevant science and engineering degree programmes are chemistry (or closely related scientific field with sufficient chemistry content), physics, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering

Desirable:

Enthusiasm for absorbing new knowledge and skills across traditional fields

Process details:

• 8 weeks minimum fixed term contract to be agreed with successful candidate

• 5 days holiday to be taken during the placement

Working at Naicker Scientific:

NAICKER SCIENTIFIC is a cross-sector technology development micro-SME based in Tetbury, England.

The company was incorporated in 2021, initially as a technical consultancy, supporting hardware technology start-ups research/design/build/test early proof-of-concept prototypes - a mixture of space and non-space related projects.

Our broad-spectrum delivery capability has allowed the company to evolve into an originator of technology innovations.

NAICKER SCIENTIFIC was recently named the overall winner of the Aqualunar Challenge by the UK Space Agency - a competition to develop new technologies that could reliably supply water to a permanent crewed base on the Moon by purifying ice frozen in the lunar soil.