Materials Scientist or Engineer – Precision Sphere Production

Inertia•Livermore, CA

15h•$150,000 - $285,000

About The Position

Overview: We are seeking a Materials Scientist to lead the development of mass production of several mm sized precision silicon spheres for next-generation fusion targets. This role will pioneer advanced precision techniques for mass production of precision fusion capsules on machines to enable large-scale manufacturing on the scale of a 10 Hz manufacturing rate.

Requirements

PhD or MS, or experience equivalent, in Materials Science, Applied Physics, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, or related field.
Experience with ceramics or other brittle materials.
Strong analytical measurement skills.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated ability to work with mass production machines or processes.
Experience polishing to a high degree of smoothness.
Experience with sphere or ball manufacturing.
Familiarity with process scale-up or industrial mass production.

Responsibilities

Develop equipment and processes for grinding, polishing, lapping spheres or alternative techniques.
Develop/oversee creating low cost feed stock for sphere production with single crystal silicon.
Implement precision metrology appropriate for mass production of spheres.
Assist with polishing of diamond overcoated spheres.
Investigate other related materials issues needed in the production of targets at mass scale.