Research Associate: Aerospace Engineering

SJSU Research Foundation

21h

About The Position

The Psychology Department at San Jose State University is involved in collaborative research efforts with civil service scientists from the U.S. Army’s Technology Development Directorate (TDD) Research Group at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA. This is a journeyman-level engineering position with the TDD focused on Flight Controls and Flight Dynamics Modeling as it relates to the Army’s Future Vertical Lift (FVL) and Contested Logistics (CL) modernization priorities. The work is centered on research and development efforts of rotorcraft flight control technologies and operations for both manned and unmanned systems and optionally piloted air-vehicles.

Requirements

• BS in Aerospace Engineering or related field required.
• Education in the following areas: Numerical analysis and statistical methods, flight dynamics and control; aircraft simulation; classical and optimal control; linear control theory; MATLAB, Simulink, Python.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work on collaborative teams or independently.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct independent research.
• General knowledge of flight control and fixed/rotary wing aircraft and unmanned aerial system (UAS) controls.
• Demonstrated strong competency in MATLAB, Simulink, Python, and C/C++.
• Experience conducting design reviews, peer reviews and technical meetings.
• Must be willing to travel domestically and internationally.
• Located at the NASA Ames Research Center.
• Employee must meet security qualifications for entrance to Ames Research Center.
• Candidate must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident.
• Frequent and ongoing use of a computer terminal to conduct a variety of the more advanced clerical functions and communications.
• Periodic, regular, and/or occasional contact with employees of the Research Foundation at all levels, San Jose State University faculty and staff, and/or vendors, with the ability to discuss and appropriately respond to inquiries and requests.
• Work with time constraints and under pressure.
• Periodic regular lifting, walking, and carrying of files, documents and other related materials.
• Strength, dexterity, and coordination and/or ability to use a computer keyboard and read a video display terminal on a regular basis.
• Ability to listen to verbal requests from customers, clients, and vendors, and to respond appropriately.
• A background check (including a criminal records check) must be completed satisfactorily before any candidate can be offered a position with the SJSURF. Failure to satisfactorily complete the background check may affect the application status of applicants or the continued employment of current SJSURF employees who apply for the position.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in an applied research setting is highly desired.

Responsibilities

• Perform research and development in the areas of flight controls, handling qualities, and autonomy for manned and unmanned vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
• Provide subject matter expertise to program offices and industry partners in the aforementioned technical areas.
• Assess, plan, develop, expand, and/or validate model stitching software (STITCH) source code, development items, new features, user requests, and command line interface capabilities to enhance performance, robustness, and repeatability of developing full flight simulation models with the STITCH software.
• Develop and validate STITCH software models against high-fidelity nonlinear simulation models to include frequency domain, time simulation at various amplitudes, and full-mission piloted scenarios.
• Draft and prepare documentation such as the STITCH user manual.
• Provide STITCH modeling expertise and support to members of the Vehicle Management and Control (VM&C) branch to allow their STITCH projects to proceed smoothly.
• Address inquiries, bug reports, and requests from external STITCH users.
• Perform troubleshooting activities and communications with the customer to resolve the issues in a timely manner, supporting customer satisfaction and allowing their projects to proceed smoothly.
• Provide STITCH modeling support to external users/collaborators.
• Develop and validate UH-60M flight dynamics simulation models to enhance existing capabilities by enabling the modeling and simulation of relevant rotorcraft configurations.
• Assess and plan the necessary source code modifications and investigate considerations for the software development environment.
• Support the TDD Flight Test and Rotorcraft In-Flight Laboratory (RIFL) teams with integration of UH-60M flight dynamics simulation model in the RASCAL-X system integration laboratory (SIL).
• Provide flight controls expertise to the Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program office.
• Participate in FLRAA design reviews and keep abreast of flight test plans for the FLRAA aircraft.
• Support the execution of the Advanced Rotorcraft Configurations Testing of Increased Capabilities (ARCTIC) simulations in the Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS).
• Work with the Army/NASA team to prepare the rotorcraft flight dynamics simulation models (MV-75, GTRMM) and configure scenarios for the ARCTIC simulation experiments to support timely execution.
• Work with the ARCTIC team during experiments to ensure coverage of data collection.
• Serve as the Technical Point of Contact for University of Maryland Vertical Lift Research Center of Excellence (UMD VLRCOE) Task 3.2 “Flight Dynamics and Control of Multiple Interacting Heterogenous Rotorcraft in Ground Effect”.
• Monitor progress, attend reviews, and ensure the work continues to address the core goals of the task.
• Develop proficiency with the Army’s flight controls and system identification tools, including CIFER, CONDUIT, and RIPTIDE.
• Provide support to others with the validation of software modifications.
• Attend recurring flight controls group meetings, branch meetings, etc. and report project updates and activities.
• Communicate research results through technical presentations and written reports.

Benefits

• Four company health insurance plans to choose from (employee contributions differ according to plan and level of coverage).
• Employer-paid dental and vision for both employee and eligible dependents.
• Life, AD&D, LTD with supplemental coverage opportunities.
• 14 paid federal & state holidays.
• Retirement Plan: 403 (b) employee contribution plan component and a 403 (b) employer contribution component, which vests immediately.
• Vacation-hour accruals and separate sick-hour accumulations.
• Employee discounts.
• Paid training and professional-development conferences.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 11-50 employees