Smart textile composite for spacecraft structure

This fully funded PhD position will reward the successful candidate with an award covering full fees, a maintenance stipend in line with UKRI rates, and a Leeds Institute of Textiles and Colour (LITAC) grant worth 10,000 GBP for personal development and consumables. The research will address three key challenges facing the design of future spacecraft: developing lightweight, multifunctional materials; reliable sensing and communication through embedded sensors and antennas; and integrated, solder-free electronic assembly. Through this integrated approach, the project will lay the groundwork for multifunctional space materials capable of real-time monitoring, communication, and self-diagnosis, vital for long-duration missions and sustainable spacecraft design. The successful candidate will investigate the design and fabrication of functional fibre and filament systems capable of performing as electronic components, the co-manufacturing of these functional fibres into smart textile composites using advanced nonwoven and composite processing methods, the integration of antenna and sensing capabilities for in-situ environmental and structural monitoring, and modelling and testing of the resulting composite structures under simulated space conditions. This work represents a radically new route to designing and manufacturing electronics-integrated structural materials for aerospace applications, with potential impact on future satellite, probe, and planetary exploration missions.