Postdoctoral Research Associate – Ceramic Processing Science Security Clearance

An educational platform on tribology — the science of friction, wear and lubrication

Who is it for

Engineers, researchers, students and industry professionals

Requisition  Overview:
We are seeking a post-doctoral researcher focused on the processing science and fabrication of additive manufacturing systems for dynamic wireless charging, solid state battery and high temperature ceramic applications. This position resides in the Surface Engineering and Tribology Group (SETG) in the Materials Science and Technology Division (MSTD), Physical Sciences Directorate (PSD) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) but will involve close (daily) collaborations with scientists/team members across the laboratory.

Potential candidate is expected to contribute to the development unique science directions, in collaboration with the Team and sponsoring organizations. Furthermore, the position requires collaborating and interacting with staff at ORNL’s Electric Drive Team located at the National Transportation Research Center, the Additive Manufacturing Team at the Manufacturing Development Facility, and within the Physical Sciences Directorate s position will support the laboratories mission of world leading materials science and delivering solutions to pressing energy problems essential to economic develop and security of the United States As part of our research team, you will work with ORNL’s world-class experts and have access to the state-of-the-art facilities to make contributions to a couple of DOE projects on development of ceramic slurries/systems for additive manufacturing.

The candidate will make extensive use of colloidal and ceramic science methods and additive processing long with detailed magnetic characterization measurements related to curie temperature, relative permeability, and power loss to understand the impact of slurry formulation and component magnetism as well as electrochemical characterization measurements to further elucidate the role of architecture on iconic transport in composite and/or novel electrode designs.

Other characterization studies will be implemented as appropriate for the materials including microscopy, x-ray diffraction, competitive adsorption, gravimetric analysis, etc…. Applicant will be expected to compose or participate in the composition of reports and peer reviewed publications. As part of our research team, the candidate will be expected to collaborate across a variety of projects related to vehicles, batteries, and space.

In addition, the applicant will be expected to engage with the team and develop/improve suitable laboratory procedures and aspects related to safety and best practices. In addition to producing high impact publications, you will have opportunities to build a professional network by interacting with our academic and industrial collaborators and presenting at technical conferences, which will get you ready for the future career.

In addition to meeting project milestones and producing high impact publications, getting involved in professional societies and contributing to local communities are also highly encouraged.

• Develop slurries for advance manufacturing processes
• Perform colloidal and rheological characterization
• Fabricate ceramic components using traditional and advanced ceramic fabrication techniques
• Magnetic characterization using a variety of powder and bulk structural techniques
• Perform characterization of battery materials
• Coordinate research with other team members inside and outside ORNL
• Work with sponsors to achieve project goals and deliverables
• Present and report research results and publish scientific results in…