Postdoctoral Appointee - Shock Physics, Onsite

About Sandia

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation's premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting‑edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
• Extraordinary co‑workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten‑hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part‑time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacation, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

* These benefits vary by job classification.

We are seeking a POSTDOCTORAL APPOINTEE.

On any given day, you may be called on to:

• Support novel experimental design for shock compression studies of heterogeneous materials, including mechanical mixtures, granular and porous media, and earthen/geological materials.
• Fabricate and characterize target assemblies at SNL-CA.
• Analyze traditional diagnostics (PDV, PVDF, PZT, etc.) and integrate results to computational models.
• Build and execute Linux‑based workflows to execute hydrocode calculations.
• Collaborate across multidisciplinary teams, adapting to each user facility's procedures, requirements, and constraints.
• Coordinate and execute experiments at internal and external user facilities.
• Perform data analysis, including radiographic analysis and high‑speed imaging interpretation.
• Calibrate material models by correlating experimental observations with computational models.
• Document and present findings to internal and external stakeholders, including scientific conferences and multi‑organization meetings.

Due to the nature of the work, the selected applicant must be able to work onsite.

• PhD in Materials Science, Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or closely related discipline.
• Deep understanding of shock compression science and dynamic material response, with experience in areas such as:
  • Experimental shock physics (e.g. gas‑gun, explosive, pulsed‑power platforms)
  • Computational shock physics (e.g. hydrocodes, FEA, plasticity, etc.)

• Documented record of designing and executing complex shock‑compression experiments to probe at least one of the following behaviors:
• Experience processing and interpreting image diagnostics, such as flash X‑ray, proton radiography, high‑speed optical/video.
• Highly collaborative work style, with demonstrated ability to coordinate with external facility staff.
• Hands‑on fabrication and metrology of shock physics target assemblies (alignment, tolerances).
• Familiarity with advanced diagnostics (VISAR/PDV, DIC, pyrometry, in‑situ strain gauges).
• Experience fielding experiments at user facilities under formal work‑control and readiness processes.
• Proficiency in developing data‑reduction pipelines and quantitative image analysis (uncertainty quantification, segmentation).
• Track record of integrating experimental data with simulations for model validation and parameter calibration.
• Strong publication record and effective scientific communication skills.

The Mechanics of Materials Department performs experimental and analytical studies to characterize and predict the thermal‑mechanical behavior of materials, from atoms to continuum, specializing in fracture and failure. Our experimental work covers the spectrum of discovery to characterization to model validation. Motivated by observations, we develop mathematical models to simulate material responses under various loading and environmental conditions. The fidelity of our models and simulations varies from atomic to continuum scales.

We develop numerical methodologies so that our material models can be implemented in high‑performance computing simulations. Our experimental…