RESEARCH ENGINEER - SR. RESEARCH ENGINEER - COMBUSTION RESEARCH/PROPULSION & ENERGY

Who We Are:

Join the Propulsion and Energy Section to conduct contract engineering for applied research and development in the industries of oil & gas, air-breathing propulsion, power generation, and liquid propulsion.

Objectives of this Role:

• Conduct applied combustion research to develop and demonstrate new technologies to support both government and commercial customers.
• Adapt your skill set to new problems and application areas.
• Each project has a new challenge and something to learn.
• Rely on engineering fundamentals, literature, modeling tools, and team experience to overcome challenges and be successful.
• Conduct combustion design and analysis studies using low-fidelity chemical kinetic computations as well as highly detailed CFD simulations.
• Support combustion test development and operations for current test rigs at SwRI as well as future prototype combustion testing.
• Act as a primary technical focal point for combustion R&D.
• Be a solution-oriented problem solver that exercises creativity and independent judgement in determining approaches to solve a wide range of technical problems with minor supervision.
• Write technical reports, papers, and prepare technical presentations for client meetings and conferences.
• Attend and present at conferences or other events to actively promote SwRI business.

Daily and Monthly Responsibilities:

• Provide analytical or experimental support to more than one project in a team environment, which can include literature reviews, testing, design, and simulation development.
• Use commercial engineering software for design and analysis, such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD).
• Contribute technical development of experimental test programs, including developing/operating a new test rig.
• Direct testing & modification of a test rig to meet new project objectives.
• Advise the technical work of other engineers/technicians to combustion testing/simulations.
• Conduct applied combustion research in a variety of applications including power generation, propulsion, direct-fired oxy-combustion, alternative fuels (hydrogen, ammonia, etc.).
• Work across the Institute to draw on the experience from thousands of engineers and technicians.
• Assess best approach to solve problems and interrogate results for reliability and provide troubleshooting support for tests and simulations with a firm understanding of theories/concepts using a first-principles approach.
• Learn new technical skills to complete project work.

Requirements:

• Requires a Bachelors with a 3.20 GPA in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related engineering degree
• MS degrees in engineering will require 4 years, PhD in engineering will require 3 years
• 5 years: Conducting combustion, fluid, or thermal systems analyses or testing with a firm understanding of the underlying physics
• Test experience with combustion systems with turbomachinery applications, such as lean pre-mix combustion or other developing combustion technologies, such as oxy-fuel combustion or hydrogen combustion
• Experience working as a primary technical contributor to large experimental test and development programs
• A valid/clear driver's license is required