Funding amount: The funding covers EU/UK fees and stipend in line with EPSRC rates

Deadline: Applications will be considered on a first come-first serve basis as they arrive. Applications will be accepted at any time until the position is filled.

Wearable Tech is a hot topic at present with high profile examples including Google glasses and the Apple Watch. There is huge potential for integrating wearable technology in textiles (these being known as e-textiles or smart fabrics) but at present there are very few practical examples. For example, Adidas have developed a heart rate monitoring sports top but the functionality added to the textile is limited to conductive electrodes, all signal processing and wireless communications are performed on a conventional PCB based module that snaps on to the front of the top.

The research team at Southampton has recently received funding from the EPSRC for a project ‘Novel manufacturing methods to achieve Functional Electronic TexTiles (FETT)’. The FETT project is concerned with developing the fundamental microelectronics technologies required to reliably integrate real electronic functionality into a textile. The proposed methodology involves packaging electronic components (silicon die) within a textile yarn that can then be woven into a true e-textile. The project is a collaboration with Nottingham Trent University who have expertise in yarn and fabric manufacture.

The potential for the technology is enormous and this is evidenced by the strong industrial support the FETT project has received. The project is supported by companies with interests in applications as diverse as medical sensing to automotive interiors. The PhD research will focus on the development of the electronic circuits fabricated using ultrathin silicon components and novel die packaging methodologies on thin plastic substrates. The PhD will work towards demonstrating the potential of the technology by assembling and evaluating an industrially relevant example.

The PhD will be supervised by Professor Steve Beeby and Dr John Tudor and will join a growing team working in this area. The University of Southampton’s Department of Electronics and Computer Science is one of the largest and most distinguished in the UK, and has an international reputation for education, research and enterprise. With over 400 PhD students conducting research into areas of electronics and computer science, Southampton is a vibrant environment for postgraduate research (www.southampton.ac.uk/postgraduate).

The studentship is available for UK and EU students, paying all University fees and providing a £17k+ tax-free stipend. If you wish to discuss any details of the project informally, please contact Prof. Steve Beeby, ECS, Email: spb@ecs.soton.ac.uk Tel +44 (0)23 8059 6663