Department of Mechanical Engineering
Institution: Politecnico di Milano 

Dept/School/Faculty: Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Manufacturing and Production Systems Section

PhD Supervisor: Prof. Q. Semeraro, Prof. A. Matta
  
Application Deadline: 2:00 pm, March 23rd 2015
Funding Availability: Funded PhD Project-Industrial Doctorate (Students Worldwide)

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano hereby declares the following position to be open for application:
Industrial Doctorate Position – Optimal Scheduling in Flow Shop
This position is available in the framework of an Industrial Doctorate, and foresees formal collaboration between industry and academia for the development of the specific research subject. PhD studies will be performed in the research area of Manufacturing and Production Systems with specialization in Optimal Scheduling in Flow Shop, at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of Politecnico di Milano, starting May 1st, 2015.

The problems of organization in the factory floor limit the maximum achievable production rates and consequently the competitiveness of industries in a challenging and worldwide market. The main goal of the research is to develop a scheduling system that can work with very few assumptions and reach low computational times. Some of the techniques to be investigated are based on the mimic of biological systems.

Scheduling issues will be investigated using both simulation and optimization. Approaches to preemption and continuous refresh will be proposed and validated. Metaheuristic algorithms will be used to optimize an “ad-hoc” objective function. Real case scenarios will be used to analyze scheduling performances.
The position is funded for 36 months; scholarship net amount is 1.200 euro/month, and  extra-funding (500 euro/month) is available for research periods abroad (up to 6 months). The position benefits from financial aid for study materials and conference fees during II and III year (1.370 euro/year).

Requirements: Master of Science (min. 5 years of graduate education); Certified English Language proficiency.
Mandatory attachments: scientific research project proposal; complete cv.
The application should be sent no later than March 23rd, 2:00 pm Italian time. Please click on the link below for complete application procedure
For further information about the position, please contact phd-dmecc@polimi.it.