Materials Engineer

Materials Engineer

Our materials engineering researchers work directly with multi-disciplinary project teams to understand key manufacturing and product challenges and determine how material developments and surface treatment technologies can be used to solve them.

This includes problem assessment, material development & characterization, application development and testing, prototyping, and more.

Our team members are an integral part of the Research & Innovation Center eco-system, contributing to a dynamic environment of multiple projects, collaborating with colleagues from our operating companies, Virginia Tech faculty & students, suppliers, and other applied research centers.

As our Materials Engineer, you will provide team guidance founded on a theoretical basis tempered by industrial experiences to shape durable solutions. You will contribute to the Center leadership helping to shape the methodologies and processes utilized across a broad spectrum of materials.

Minimum Qualifications

PhD or Masters in Science Degree in Materials Engineering, Mechanical, Chemical, or similar engineering/science background. You must have Polymer related experience.

Experience

PhD plus (1-2 years experience) at a company (preferably manufacturing related)

Master’s Degree plus (3-4 years experience) at a company (preferably manufacturing related)

Bachelor’s Degree plus (5-10 years experience) at a company (preferably manufacturing related)

Knowledge/Skills Required

Polymer material engineer, chemist, physicist, or scientist with preferable experience in coatings, adhesives, plastics, and composites.

Material formulation, synthesis, or fabrication (application) skills or knowledge are desirable.

Knowledge and experience of material product and/or process development/design preferable.

Knowledgeable or experienced in the application methods of materials, spray, dispensing, extrusion, printing, molding, lamination etc. and the corresponding equipment.

Knowledge or experience of surface treatments and cleaning techniques such as plasma, flame annealing, UV-ozone, sonication etc.

Knowledgeable or experienced in coupon material level testing of plastics, thermosets, adhesives and coating, such as but not exclusively, lap shear, tensile pin, flexural, tensile strength cross hatch, Taber abrasion, cyclic testing etc. (ASTM and or industrial testing standards)

Experienced or knowledgeable in material characterization and failure analysis techniques (e.g., FESEM, optical microscopy, TGA, DMA, DSC, etc.) and how to interpret such results. You do not need to be a characterization specialist.

Experience in developing, conducting, or analyzing product and material level reliability testing such as accelerated ageing, failure testing and chemical resistance. Able to interpret results and make material level composition and application (processing) suggestions.

Solid experience with Excel, Minitab, MS Teams, PowerPoint, and a programming language (FORTRAN, Python, etc.).

Any experience with finite element or molecular modeling is beneficial.

Has experience of working cross functionally with original equipment manufacturers, consumer facing product companies, external academic research partners and material/chemical supply chain vendors.

Knowledgeable or experienced (Comfortable working with) in the inner workings of OEMs or consumer product facing companies and how these organizations interact and fit into the broader material/chemical supply chain.

Skilled in both holistic and linear problem-solving styles and can switch between the two operating styles depending on the task.

Experience of working on science projects and engineering projects.

Experienced in working on short and long-term projects.

Experience of working on existing or new products/materials which were commercial or commercialized. (Preferable)

Strong background and interest in material innovation and development for industrial applications.

Experience leading diverse project teams. Effective communicator with diverse teams and stakeholders.

Excellent verbal and written communication skills; clearly conveys ideas at both technical and non-technical levels; must be an active listener.