Wissenschaftliche(r) Mitarbeiter(in) (PhD-Stelle)

inspire AG is the leading Swiss competence centre for product innovation and advanced manufacturing.
As a strategic partner of ETH Zurich, our mission is to transfer knowledge and technology from research
to Swiss machine, electrical and metal industries.
The Control and Automation group at inspire offers in collaboration with the Automatic Control Lab (IfA)
at ETH Zurich the following doctoral position supervised by Prof. John Lygeros and Dr. Efe Balta.

Doctoral (PhD) Student Position in

Monitoring and Control of 3D Printing

Advanced manufacturing is central to sustainable automation with high-impact opportunities in both
research and society. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, processes offer unprecedented flexibility
and productivity to modern manufacturing systems. Additive manufacturing processes involve complex
physical and chemical interactions that need to be executed with high precision and minimal
interruptions throughout a life cycle. Incorporating predictive models and advanced control using data
opens up exciting new possibilities in this domain. The research activities of this project will bring forward
the integration of novel methods at the intersection of advanced control, optimization, manufacturing
science, robotics, and machine learning.
The main goal of your work is to develop new methods and toolboxes for advanced control of extrusion
3D printing processes. We will use advanced control methods in conjunction with digital twin technology
to develop the next generation of additive manufacturing technologies. We are looking for motivated
doctoral students to contribute to this effort.
The envisioned research will tackle the broad topic of “Process control and digital twin development for
extrusion 3D printing”:

- Development and improvement of novel in-situ sensing techniques to be used in advanced
process control methods.
- Learning-based and adaptive control methods for extrusion process control and precision
printing
- Digital twin-driven methods for online process monitoring, process validation, and prediction
using modern AI tools.

Required experience

- Master’s degree (university) in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, or a related field.
- Background on control and systems theory, signal processing, and optimization is a plus
- Background on 3D printing, process modeling, and systems design is a plus
- An excellent knowledge (written/oral) of English is a must. Knowledge of German is a plus.

Required people skills

- Highly self-organized and structured way of working and solution orientation.
- High motivation and willingness to learn new skills.
- High level of teamwork, positive work attitude and creativity.
- Willingness to supervise and support student projects.

Please send your full application with reference “PhD in 3D Printing Control” to (hr@inspire.ch), including
the following material: 1) A short statement of research interests and objectives. 2) A CV including past
research work and projects. 3) 2-3 reference letters/contacts. 4) One publication/thesis. 5) Transcripts
of all degrees in English.
For technical questions, please contact Dr. Efe Balta, Head of Control and Automation
(efe.balta@inspire.ch).
Applications received by September 8 will receive full attention . Please note that we only accept
applications submitted via (hr@inspire.ch) .Applications sent to other emails or postal services
will not be considered. Please also visit our websites www.inspire.ch and https://control.ee.ethz.ch.
By submitting application documents, you accept the provisions of the privacy policy of inspire.

inspire AG, Technoparkstrasse 1, CH-8005 Zurich www.inspire.ch