Chemistry Automation & Advanced Manufacturing - Postdoctoral Researcher

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory•Livermore, CA

40d•Onsite

About The Position

We have an opening for a Postdoctoral Researcher focused on high-throughput synthesis/formulation using the Chemspeed automation platform, including advanced manufacturing fabrication and characterization. You will help build automation workflows that couple design-make-test cycles with rigorous data analysis to identify optimal formulations, then transfer down-selected recipes into manufacturing workflows for processing and property evaluation. This position is in the Functional Materials Synthesis and Integration Group of the Materials for Emerging Applications & Extreme Conditions section in the Materials Science Division. This position requires full-time on-site presence due to the nature of the work.

Requirements

Ability to secure and maintain a U.S. DOE Q-level security clearance which requires U.S. citizenship.
PhD in chemical engineering, chemistry, materials science, or a closely related field.
Experience with organic synthesis, polymer synthesis and/or formulation processing, including designing and executing experimental plans, analyzing results, and optimizing protocols.
Hands-on experience programming/operating chemistry automation platforms for synthesis and/or formulation.
Knowledge of advanced manufacturing techniques, including additive manufacturing, spin/spray coating, solution casting, and/or electrospinning.
Experience with materials characterization techniques such as NMR, GPC, DSC, TGA, tensile/compression testing, rheology, and surface energy analysis.
Familiarity with experimental design, data management, and analysis for high-throughput studies.
Demonstrated ability to conduct independent research and publish in peer-reviewed journals.
Initiative and interpersonal skills with the ability to work in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment.

Nice To Haves

Experience integrating automation platforms with data analysis, machine learning, or high-throughput experimentation.
Prior work optimizing coating or manufacturing process parameters.
Prior experience collaborating across chemistry, engineering, computer science, and materials science disciplines.

Responsibilities

Develop high-throughput workflows for polymer and material synthesis, solution preparation, and formulation screening.
Apply advanced manufacturing methods including additive manufacturing, spin/spray coating, solution casting, and electrospinning to produce test specimens and devices.
Perform materials and polymer characterization using techniques such as GPC, mass spectrometry, DSC, TGA, rheometry, tensile/compression testing, and surface energy measurements.
Analyze experimental results to establish processing-structure-property relationships.
Document research; publish papers in peer-reviewed journals, and present results within the DOE community and at scientific conferences.
Pursue independent but complementary research interests and interact with a broad spectrum of scientists internally and externally to the Laboratory.
Collaborate with scientists in a multidisciplinary team environment to accomplish research goals.
Perform other duties as assigned.