Additive Manufacturing Materials and Processes Postdoc

What You Will Do

The successful candidate will join a large team of engineers and scientists working on new methods and processes to design and manufacture complex structures using additive manufacturing (AM) and other advanced manufacturing methods. The candidate will assist or lead in the setup, modification, and optimization of various AM processes as well as learning to operate multiple existing AM platforms in advanced manufacturing laboratories.

Activities will include implementing novel diagnostic and control system tools to improve or better understand AM machine processing to push the technological limits of these methods in producing complex electro‑mechanical systems. Performing some form of engineering structural/thermal/radiation transport simulation to adequately design components for AM processes will also be an element of this research assignment. This effort may also include performing or guiding materials synthesis and characterization experiments supporting the development of next‑generation materials for national security applications.

The development process will encompass all of AM including material formulations/characterizations, processing/building, predictive modeling, and combinations therein. Of particular interest is the successful development of “multi‑functional” materials and merging that with modified/optimized AM processes to produce components with specific mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties engineered to exhibit enhanced behaviors in these categories simultaneously. Also included in this study will be the pursuit of materials and methods to 3D print sensors integrated into AM mechanical structures.

Exceptional candidates may be considered for a Director’s Fellowship and outstanding candidates may be considered for the prestigious Darleane Christian Hoffman, Richard P. Feynman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, or Frederick Reines Fellowships. For general information about the Postdoc Program, including salary guidelines, see:
Postdoc Program.

Minimum

Job Requirements:

• Operation and modification of additive manufacturing processes in areas such as Direct Ink Write, Metal Directed Energy Deposition, Selective Laser Sintering, Fused Deposition Modeling, and Stereo Lithography.
• Materials synthesis of feed stocks for additive manufacturing processes.
• Materials characterization using both destructive and non‑destructive testing techniques.
• Additive manufacturing machine design, process modification, or control augmentation.
• Engineering design and numerical simulation.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills as demonstrated by strong records of publications in high impact technical journals, and presentations at national conferences.
• Ability to work productively on multiple projects as demonstrated by meeting deadlines, milestones and requirements.
• Ability to work as part of a highly interdisciplinary team of engineers, chemists, material scientists and physicists with minimal supervision.

Desired

Qualifications:

• Experience with 3D printing of sensors and electronics.
• Familiarity with radiation transport and shielding methodologies.
• Experience with design for manufacturability (including topology optimization) as well as design of ancillary equipment and control systems for 3D printers.
• Proficiency in engineering design and modeling software such as Solid Works, Creo, Topology, Netfabb, Abaqus, Ansys, etc.
• Experience in composite materials containing polymers, ceramics, metals, etc.
• Familiarity with material property testing and characterization.

A Ph.D. completed within the last 5 years or soon to be completed in engineering, materials science, polymer science, or a related field.

The work location for this position is onsite and located in Los Alamos, NM. All work locations are at the discretion of management.

Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China—including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau—as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and…