Controls Engineer

Tau is a venture-backed advanced technology company based in the Bay Area (Redwood City, CA). We design and develop next-generation products for electrification, constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation. The company was started because we believe the key to a more sustainable future requires modern power conversion systems to increase the security of the world's energy. We have pioneered technologies that leverage software-enabled hardware to provide industry-leading scale, economics, and efficiencies.

Our systems include innovations across electric machines, inverters, controllers, thermal management, simulation, and charging systems.

Tau's team of engineers, scientists, technologists, operators, and industry leaders continues to advance our internal technology roadmap while collaborating with commercial partners to deploy our existing products to market. They are relentlessly pursuing the creation of efficient power conversion systems for a more sustainable future. At our core, Tau is made of exceptionally talented and mission-aligned people. Developing complex electromechanical systems is an interdisciplinary challenge.

We want to expand our team with diverse engineering, scientific, and operational expertise.

About you

We are looking for people who aren't afraid to take on new challenges and are as passionate about energy and electrification as we are:

• You find significant challenges exciting and enjoy discovering and defining problems as much as solving them.
• You deliver. You may enjoy thoughtful conversations about problems and perfecting design, but ultimately, you know that delivering innovative, effective, and reliable solutions matters.
• You are a cross-disciplinary team member. You are excited to work with, learn from, and contribute to technology teams ranging from electromagnetics, power electronics, controls systems, mechanical, materials, software, computational physics, and beyond.

About the role

We are seeking a Controls Engineer to join our growing team to advance our internal technology roadmap and translate our innovative products to market with our commercial partners.

As a controls team member, you will model, design, implement, test, and benchmark the motor controls of current and future Tau motor drives - including both high and low-voltage applications.
What You'll Do

• Help define requirements for motor control software and interfacing hardware components, including voltage and current sensors, power stages, speed sensors
• Understand, drive design of, and implement motor controller functionality, behaviors, and algorithm
  
  Translate algorithms into software implementation and integrate that into the firmware framework
• Test, validate, and troubleshoot controller implementation
• Develop, test, and validate motor control algorithms in the laboratory and in-vehicle
• Maintain awareness of and influence research and development in crucial component technologies that affect future inverter/motor designs and motor control
• Advance Tau's intellectual property in electric motor design and motor controls

What You'll Bring

• 1-3 years of relevant industry experience
• Strong fundamentals of AC electric motors and drive systems analysis, modeling, and control
• Solid background in linear systems analysis, stability, and controller design
• Basic proficiency with embedded firmware development in C/C++
• Model development and data analysis in Python or Matlab/Simulink
• Strong communication and preference for working in teams

Desired Skills

• Master or PhD degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering, mechatronic engineering, or equivalent degree with a focus on control systems
• In-depth understanding of motor control techniques such as slip-based control, field-oriented control, direct torque control
• Experience with model-predictive control (MPC), reference generation, and advanced estimation techniques
• Prior experience with flux estimation methods, 3-phase power control, analytical control system theory development and analysis
• Experience with various PWM schemes such as space vector, discontinuous, and sinusoidal modulation, including data-acquisition methods
• Familiarity with sensorless motor control algorithms and low-speed control techniques
• Capability of delivering high-quality C code in an embedded microcontroller environment
• System-oriented understanding of thermal, vehicle-level torque control, high voltage DC-link integration, efficiency optimization, and firmware integration for electric drives
• Awareness of UL and CE electrical safety requirements and EMC requirements relevant to the design of power converters
• Knowledge of environmental, reliability, and safety requirements for Automotive, Industrial, & Residential applications
• Proven ability to design systems that are resilient to faults and errors

US Salary Information

$95,000.00 - $

Tau is committed to paying competitive compensation that is fair and equitable. Your experience, qualifications, training, critical skills, and/or business considerations determine your…