Supporting Company: Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd

The University of Exeter and Britvic are seeking a top class candidate to undertake research leading to the award of an International Engineering Doctorate awarded jointly by the Universities of Warwick, Exeter and Cranfield.

As a ‘research engineer’ on our International Doctorate programme you will have unrivalled access to some of the best teaching and industrial expertise in the world, across three universities. While you will be based at The University of Exeter and Britvic, you will also spend time at Warwick and Cranfield Universities to give you the broadest possible experience. You will emerge from the four-year programme more confident and better equipped to make a difference to your company and the global marketplace. 

Project
Britvic’s most significant packaging initiative and current priority is to develop an environmentally sustainable alternative bottle technology, based on advances in structural paper technologies and water resistant coatings. Britvic is working with technology partner Natural Resources (2000) Ltd which has developed an innovative forming process. This project needs to demonstrate the following:

• Bottle structure, coating and capping solution functionally “fit for purpose”
• Market acceptable
• Easy / convenient to recycle
• Scalable production process
• Cost effective solution

We are seeking an EngD student to support this development programme through the following activities:

• Functional testing and evaluation of moulded bottle forms with focus on material structure and characteristics with respect to the impact of different fibre types, additives and process parameters, thereby enabling structured input into optimisation of the future manufacturing process
• Specification, testing and evaluation of different barrier coatings, with respect to different bottle contents
• Evaluation of current and future capping solutions for the proposed bottles, with respect to sustainability of materials used, functional performance on new bottle formats, and performance within manufacturing / filling processes and the wider supply chain
• Support of market evaluations of new and emerging packaging technologies
• Significant involvement in development of Britvic’s wider packaging technology strategy

The student will be expected to act as a full member of Britvic’s packaging technology team, interacting with colleagues from manufacturing engineering, finance and marketing as well as with third party technology partners.

Entry Requirements

Qualifications
Candidates should have a minimum of an upper second (2.1) honours degree (or equivalent) in materials science or similar engineering discipline. Knowledge of paper making processes or surface coating technologies in particular are of interest.

Attributes

• High levels of innovative thought and lateral thinking
• Excellent analytical and reporting skills
• Excellent communication skills, able to work across functional and corporate bounds
• Understanding of materials and analytical approaches to evaluating their performance
• Understanding of the requirements of fast moving production and packaging processes
• Self-motivated, capable of working with minimal guidance and supervision, and within a team.
• Enthusiasm for the subject and wider innovative packaging technology developments

The Studentship
Qualifying students an attractive enhanced stipend which could be tax and NI free depending on your personal circumstances. For 2014 this totals approximately £19,000 tax free per annum.

The funding is for four years.

Due to funding regulations this project is open to Home/EU students only.

Apply
To apply please complete our online enquiry form and upload your CV.