Instrumentation Technician

Instrumentation Technician

About the job

The CSIR has a vacancy for Instrumentation Technician in the Mining Testing and Training group within the Mining cluster. The incumbent will be responsible to ensure that instrumentation is procured, stored, maintained, repaired, calibrated, and replaced as required in support of operational readiness in the Kloppersbos facility and the Cottesloe mining testing laboratories. This position is based in Cottesloe and Kloppersbos.

For more information about the unit, please visit: https://www.csir.co.za/future-production-mining

Key responsibilities

• Maintain calibration of measurement instruments and maintain the calibration schedule;
• Procure instrumentation, consumables and measurement instruments as required by testing projects and routine testing services;
• Develop test and measurement methods suitable to the RDI operational needs and customer testing requirements;
• Install, set-up and commission instrumentation and related equipment in the laboratory and at test facilities in the danger area as needed for testing;
• Undertake system checks, data recording, data integrity checks, fault finding and fixing during testing operations and do data post-processing after recording.
• Maintain instrumentation, cabling, transducers, data recording equipment and related tools and equipment incl. repair, clean and store ready for use.
• Support the Manager, Supervisor and Explosives Manager in ensuring that testing and training operations are carried out safely;
• Maintain and upgrade as required the instrumentation and control systems in the laboratory, milling plant and testing facilities in the danger area;
• Identify and communicate suggestions for continuous improvement.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A National Diploma in electronic/ electrical/ mechanical engineering or NQF Level 6 qualification;

• All international qualifications require an evaluation report / certificate issued by the South African Authority (SAQA).

• At least five years’ experience in control and instrumentation, or in use and maintenance of instruments and equipment in a mechanical laboratory and / or mechanical field measurements and data recording;

• Knowledge of transducers for physical measurements (e.g. force, acceleration, pressure, temperature) and data acquisition equipment;

• Knowledge and ability to do post-processing of recorded data including the identification and clean-up of spurious data.

• Basic understanding of occupational health and safety protocols and standards;

• Ability to prepare Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs);

• Good verbal and written communication skills;

• Planning and organizing skills;

• Strong mathematical skills;

• Mechanical, electrical, and electronic troubleshooting ability;

• Operational requirements include:

• Lifting equipment operator;

• Driver’s license.

• The incumbent will be expected to travel between Cottesloe in Johannesburg, CSIR Scientia (Pretoria), and Kloppersbos north of Pretoria.

• Master’s Studentship: Space Engineering

• The CSIR has a vacancy for a Master’s Studentship: Space Engineering in the Optronic Sensor System (OSS), within the Defence and Security Cluster. The incumbent will be responsible for undertaking original research and development in Space Engineering with the Optronics Sensor System Impact Area. This position is based in Pretoria.

• For more information about the cluster, please visit https://www.csir.co.za/defence-and-security

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Research areas:

• Electro Optics Payload for Disaster Management
• Electro-Optics Payload Image Processing
• Satellite Bus Design and Development
• Satellite Orbital Mechanics Design
• Space Modelling and Simulation
• Space Ground Station Technologies
• Emerging Artificial Intelligence technologies for Space Applications
• Thermal management of satellite buses and payloads
• Radiation shielding of satellite bus materials
• Space Data Management, Processing and Analysis

Key responsibilities

• Prepare a research proposal to be approved by both the CSIR OSS and the university;
• Prepare a written literature overview of the current state-of-the-art relevant to the research topic;
• Perform original research to solve the open research problem(s) that the student identified in his/her proposal;
• Produce sufficient quantity and quality of peer-reviewed publications based on the Master’s research topic;
• Compile a Masters’s thesis dissertation and defending the work successfully; and
• Contribute to extra project activities that may be outside the scope of the Master’s research as per the needs of the research group. The amount of such work shall be limited to 20% of the total time.

Qualifications, skills and experience:

• A Bachelor of Engineering or Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in electronic/computer/mechanical/mechatronic engineering or a related/relevant field;
• Register for a Master’s qualification within the South African university (to be agreed upon with the CSIR co-supervisor);
• Must have a strong background in Electronics and Mechanical Systems, System Engineering, Cybersecurity in Space Domain, Data Communication systems;
• Knowledge of machine learning and/or artificial intelligence application in space technologies;
• Working knowledge of related programming languages such as Python, MATLAB, (and others applicable);
• Must have knowledge of modelling and simulation software such as STK, ANSYS, NX Siemens (and others applicable);
• Must have experience in software development for experimentation and computer simulation with a hands-on approach;
• Good understanding of the scientific method: design of experiments, running experiments, critical analysis of results, and dissemination of knowledge;
• Good communication skills (verbal and written) and ability to interact efficiently with diverse teams of people; and
• A good peer-reviewed publication record will be advantageous.

Applicants must attach the following documents:

• A cover letter (maximum two pages) including a description of the applicant’s research interests, the problem statement, research statement or question(s), research objectives and expected outputs/outcomes/impact of the research;
• Certified copies of the applicant’s latest academic results or transcript;
• Certified copies of tertiary qualifications;
• Curriculum vitae;
• If applicable, proof of registration from the university or a confirmation letter from the university supervisor that she/he is willing to be involved in the candidate supervision; and
• A recommendat