Engineer, Mechanical

Universities Space Research Association•Huntsville, AL

16d•$61,110 - $91,665•Onsite

About The Position

USRA and the Science and Technology Institute are seeking a full-time Mechanical Engineer to work in our Huntsville, AL office. The Mechanical Engineer will design, fabricate, assemble, and test machines and instruments that will be used for X-ray optics fabrication, calibration, and metrology. The successful candidate will collaborate closely with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center’s (MSFC) X-ray Astronomy Group to perform this work. This work directly supports the development of next generation X-ray optics for future NASA missions.

Requirements

Demonstrated expertise in the design, fabrication, assembly, and testing of machines and laboratory instruments.
Proficiency using Python, MATLAB, or equivalent scientific software.
Proficiency with CAD software.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively in multidisciplinary research environments.

Nice To Haves

Experience with fabricating machines for polishing and measuring X-ray optics.
Proficiency writing software for instrument stage motion control and data acquisition.
Experience working with X-ray calibration systems including knowledge of ionizing radiation producing devices.
Prior collaboration experience with NASA or national laboratories.

Responsibilities

Support development of machines and instruments that will be used to fabricate, measure and calibrate X-ray optics.
Support development of fixtures and other hardware used for the fabrication and testing of X-ray optics.
Support the design, assembly, and testing of laboratory machines and instruments that will be used for the polishing of X-ray optics.
Support the development of instruments that will be used for measuring the surface properties of X-ray optics.
Support engineering teams on optical component integration into flight-like telescope assemblies.
Support the development of fixtures that will be used for the development of X-ray optics.
Develop software tools and GUIs for machine and instrument control.
Develop software tools for the acquisition, analysis and organization of X-ray test and metrology data.
Conduct quantitative analysis of X-ray metrology data to inform optics fabrication.
Document technology development findings, maintain technology development records, and contribute to technical reports, NASA deliverables, and peer-reviewed publications.
Work with multidisciplinary teams across NASA, academia, and industry to advance technology readiness levels of X-ray instrument technologies (TRL).
Contribute to proposal preparation for external funding and participate in internal research planning meetings.
Pursue an independent engineering research program, time permitting, to maintain a strong knowledge base in the field.