FM Research Doctorate Internship Structures and Geohazards Summer 2025-Implement Available Methods to Evaluate Damage and Repair of Mass Timber Structures

Overview

FM is a leading property insurer of the world's largest businesses, providing more than one-third of FORTUNE 1000-size companies with engineering-based risk management and property insurance solutions. FM helps clients maintain continuity in their business operations by drawing upon state-of-the-art loss-prevention engineering and research; risk management skills and support services; tailored risk transfer capabilities; and superior financial strength. To do so, we rely on a dynamic, culturally diverse group of employees, working in more than 100 countries, in a variety of challenging roles.

Responsibilities

Exciting and interesting technical challenges await when you join a world-class research team dedicated to reducing the impact of natural hazards. FM helps clients maintain continuity in their business operations by drawing upon state-of-the-art engineering and research.

Opportunity:

The Structures and Geohazards research group at FM is looking for creative, self-motivated individuals for internships. Selected candidates will work alongside a unique group of scientists to protect the value of FM clients' businesses by developing methods to identify hazards, assess risk, and produce loss prevention solutions that are efficient and cost-effective. The internship will be supervised by senior staff in the Structures and Geohazards research group and provides an opportunity to engage in solving real-world science and engineering problems in the insurance industry.

The objective of this internship is to implement available methods for evaluating and repairing mass timber structural elements, focusing on moisture damage. This role will involve both analytical and practical applications, including the estimation of moisture damage through calculation, as well as the design and evaluation of repaired cases.

Key Responsibilities:

• Estimation of Moisture Damage: Utilize available methods and tools to assess the extent of moisture damage in mass timber structures.
• Damage Calculation: Perform calculations to quantify the impact of moisture on the mechanical properties and structural integrity of timber elements.
• Evaluation: Implement and evaluate the effectiveness of repair strategies.

Qualifications

PhD graduate students (with good academic standing for graduation), who are seeking to expand their research experience beyond academia and bring expertise in the following active research areas:

• Seismology
• Structural/Earthquake Engineering
• Geohazards

General:

• Strong analytical skills and solid knowledge of probability and statistics
• Experience with programming languages such as MATLAB, R, Python, FORTRAN
• Proficiency in processing large volumes of data
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Desired based on Research topic:

• GIS skills (e.g., ArcGIS, QGIS, GDAL)
• Comfortable writing shell scripts and using APIs to automate workflows
• Comfortable in Microsoft Windows and Linux environments
• Experience in machine learning

This is an in-office role based in Norwood, MA.  Temporary relocation support provided for selected qualified candidate.

FM is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse workforce. 

#LI-TA1