Postdoctoral Appointee - Experimental Thermal Sciences & Engine Combustion, Hybrid

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*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov

* These benefits vary by job classification.

What Your Job Will Be Like:

The Applied Combustion Research Department seeks motivated candidates with expertise in experimental thermal sciences and their application to reciprocating or gas turbine combustion engines used for ground transportation, aero-propulsion, and stationary power applications. The work will advance technologies that enable the use of conventional and alternative fuels while maintaining criteria pollutant emissions within acceptable limits. Successful candidates will conduct research under the mentorship of Sandia technical staff using state-of-the-art experimental facilities and diagnostic tools.

In this role, you may be responsible for:

Designing, fabricating, installing, and evaluating test-facility instrumentation and control systems within existing laboratory infrastructure.

Developing data acquisition and analysis capabilities by specifying equipment and using custom code and commercial software for data acquisition, scientific and statistical processing, and experiment monitoring.

Developing and applying state-of-the-art optical, laser-based, and miniaturized sensor diagnostics to investigate complex reacting flows in applied environments.

Identifying and quantitatively characterizing the key physical and chemical processes that control these flows.

Using commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software or research-grade, high-fidelity codes to further investigate complex reacting processes.

Integrating experimental and simulation data to develop new insights, improved models, and predictive tools for combustion devices and fuel behavior.

Collaborating with leading engineers and scientists from industry, universities, and other technical institutions.

Developing and evaluating new intellectual property related to engine combustion.

Preparing high-impact journal articles, conference papers, and presentations.

The selected applicant can work a combination of onsite and offsite work. The selected applicant must live within a reasonable distance for commuting to the assigned work location when necessary.

Qualifications We Require:

PhD in Engineering, the Physical Sciences, or a related field.

A strong background in thermal sciences, fluid mechanics, and combustion sciences.

Demonstrated accomplishment in experimental research.

Qualifications We Desire:

Experience with optical diagnostics.

Experience with combustion research on engines (reciprocating or turbine) or other high-pressure systems

Programming experience (MATLAB, Python, C++, Lab View or similar).

Familiarity with CAD software (Solidworks, Pro-E or similar).

Working knowledge…