SUMMARY The Associate Technician position is entry level. The Associate Technician is expected to assist other technicians and engineers with “hands-on” fabrication and testing of hardware in the laboratory. The Associate Technician will be assigned a mentor who will teach and train them to use the equipment in the laboratory with the objective of becoming able to work independently. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned. General Fabrication Skills: The Associate Technician needs to develop the following fabrication skills. a. Machining: Demonstrates the ability to machine or modify simple components made from aluminum, copper or steel using a milling machine or lathe. This involves drilling holes, tapping holes, fly cutting, grinding and installing miscellaneous hardware such as heli-coils, threaded inserts, etc. b. Soldering: Demonstrates the ability to solder components together using a torch, hot plate or oven. Understands the processes (flux and solder) needed to bond aluminum and copper components neatly and effectively. c. Brazing: Able to braze components together using a torch or a furnace. Demonstrates the ability to select which process to use when required. d. Welding: has a full time welder for handling most welding requirements. Nonetheless, the technician shall develop an understanding of the welding process and weld design. Occasionally, welding of components may need to be done by the Associate Technician. e. Leak Checking: Must be able to effectively leak check hardware using a helium mass spectrometer in the various modes: vacuum, sniffing and bagged. e. Electrical Skills: Able to perform minor electrical work to setup tests. Such work would include wiring heaters for thermal tests or solder fixtures, setting up variacs, watt-meters or measuring current and resistance to calculate power. All these skills must be done safely to prevent injury to themselves and others. Hardware Assembly: Demonstrates the ability to fabricate hardware and prototypes per instructions or engineering drawings. The objective is hardware that meets the drawings, performs to the requirements and is attractive and “craftsman” like in appearance. Interpret Drawings: The Associate Technician shall understand how to read and interpret drawings per geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T) standards (ANSI/ASME Y14.5M-1994). Careful attention to tolerances and special finishes is critical. Quality: Actively learns and follows ISO 9001 and AS9100 quality standards and demonstrates the ability to follow them and adequately document work. This includes (but not limited to) getting First Article Inspection (FAI) certifications, preparing and filling out travelers, following fabrication procedures, getting Certificates of Conformance (C of C) and filing information in the appropriate project folder. On Time Delivery: Work is expected to be completed and delivered to the customer in accordance to the date committed. Customers can be internal as well as external. Cleanliness: Work area and surrounding laboratory shall be clean and organized and maintained as such each day. Tools shall be returned to their original locations and locked. Excess materials and assembly fixtures shall be disposed of or put into storage at the end of the project to minimize clutter. Laboratory Testing: Sets up and conducts tests of complete units and components under operational conditions to investigate performance against customer specifications using developed plans and experimental test programs and test procedures. Analyzes test data and reports to determine if design meets functional and performance specification. Accurately records measured test results into a laboratory notebook or electronic database. Provide recommendations for changes to the test method based on their understanding of the measured test results. QUALIFICATIONS: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
Education Level
Associate degree
Number of Employees
5,001-10,000 employees