MLOS Development Engineer (Engineer III)
About The Position
As FWI's MLOS Development Engineer supporting NSSL's Microwave Line-of-Sight (MLOS) proof-of-concept program, you'll help answer the question of whether the humidity of the atmosphere could be measured just by watching how a radio signal bends. You will advance a system built to demonstrate whether RF transmissions — and the phase shifts within them — can be reliably used to retrieve relative humidity estimates, working hands-on with electronic circuits, RF signal measurement, and enclosure design in Norman, Oklahoma. This is applied research at the hardware level: real circuits, real signals, real atmospheric physics, with the goal of turning a promising concept into a validated measurement technique.
Requirements
- BA/BS in Electrical Engineering or a related engineering discipline
- 6+ years of full-time electrical engineering experience
- Knowledge of RF electronics, circuit design, and signal propagation principles
- Experience using test equipment (multimeters, oscilloscopes, signal analyzers, etc.) to measure electronic signals and interfacing software
- Experience with digital receivers and data acquisition and analysis, including basic statistics
- Basic software programming skills (e.g., MATLAB, Python, C++)
- Strong communication skills, including technical writing
Nice To Haves
- Experience designing and implementing custom solutions for deploying observing platforms
- Familiarity with atmospheric measurement techniques
- Experience developing software and visualization techniques for scientific data collection and analysis
Responsibilities
- Continue development of the MLOS proof-of-concept system to demonstrate feasibility of using RF transmissions to retrieve relative humidity estimations
- Collaborate with NOAA/NSSL scientists and engineers to evaluate the existing project's circuitry, parts, and test plans
- Install and configure test equipment at the Norman, Oklahoma site
- Perform experiments to assess the viability of using the system to derive humidity measurements from RF phase shift data, including collecting data across a broad range of operating conditions and humidities, as conditions permit
- Use experimental results to refine the experimental design, equipment, and/or retrieval scheme to improve humidity detection, including collaborating on mechanical or electrical solution design (e.g., phase-locked oscillators, enclosure climate control, feed horn replacement, transmitter power adjustments) and testing as applicable
- Evaluate whether the measured phase difference can be digitized and used in an algorithm to obtain reliable relative humidity measurements
- Collaborate with NSSL scientists, engineers, and external partners to validate against other operational and/or experimental observations
- Assist NSSL staff in deploying other research systems, as appropriate for validation
- Create and maintain software that uses digitized phase shift data to calculate relative humidity and is capable of reporting humidity data in real time, if applicable
- Provide technical documentation (e.g., schematics, code repositories, test reports) for development activities
- Prepare quarterly reports of status
- Write a brief report following AMS guidelines and prepare a conference-style presentation; present to project stakeholders and at a national or international conference if possible
Benefits
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Long-term and Short-term Disability Insurance
- Life Insurance
- 401(k) Plan
- Holiday Pay
- Paid Time Off
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
