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PhD Vacancy: Signal Processing with Pattern Recognition and Pattern Classification of sounds recorded down oil and gas wells by novel fibre optic intelligent Distributed Acoustic Sensor iDAS arrays

We are seeking a PhD student to start immediately on an exciting project in the Optical Devices and Systems Laboratory of the Photonics Group in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, UCL, under the supervision of Dr David R. Selviah, in collaboration with major oil and gas companies including Chevron, Statoil, Weatherford and Silixa.

The lead company, Silixa, the second company to be founded by one of Dr Selviah’s earlier researchers, has invented a way to make an optical fibre act as an array of microphones. Trials are currently underway to record sounds from fibres placed down a range of active oil and gas wells around the world and in simulated wells in the laboratory. However, the data rate obtained is very large so it is necessary to implement real time pattern recognition and pattern classification to give data reduction.

Applicants are required to have ideally first class honours bachelors or masters mathematically oriented degrees such as mathematics, computer science, electronic engineering or physics, ideally having chosen courses in relevant areas and will have a proven ability to quickly locate relevant advanced knowledge, to learn it and then to use it to solve problems by demonstrating creative and innovative thinking. Applicants must have a proven ability to work as part of a team. Applicants should have expertise in programming including in Matlab, on Xilinx FPGAs and in Labview.

The research is almost entirely mathematical and programming involving mathematical modelling, pattern recognition and pattern classification for analysing acoustic data. The programs and algorithms will be first developed using Matlab with relevant toolboxes and then modified and rewritten to run on the latest Field Programmable Gate Arrays, FPGAs currently Virtex-5.

Applicants should begin by contacting Dr David R. Selviah atd.selviah@ee.ucl.ac.uk followed by a formal application via the UCL postgraduate admissions form

Please indicate on the application form under ‘Programme of Study’ that you are applying for this vacancy.

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