Senior Materials Engineer – Testing & Structural Materials

Aalo Atomics•Austin, TX

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Aalo Atomics is seeking a Senior Materials Engineer to lead materials testing and structural materials degradation activities supporting the design, qualification, and operation of Aalo-X. This role will own the development and execution of materials testing programs needed to establish design properties, quantify environmental effects, support engineering analyses, and provide qualification evidence for reactor structural materials. The position will have particular technical leadership responsibility for stainless steels and other structural metallic materials, including the effects of elevated temperature, sodium exposure, and irradiation. The engineer will work closely with materials, mechanical, structural, safety analysis, and reactor design teams to translate materials behavior into defensible engineering inputs, degradation models, surveillance strategies, and design requirements.

Requirements

Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, or a closely related field, or equivalent demonstrated technical experience.
Experience with irradiated materials and post-irradiation examination.
Knowledge of irradiation effects in stainless steels and other reactor structural alloys.
Experience with elevated-temperature mechanical testing, creep, fatigue, fracture, or environmental effects testing.
Demonstrated understanding of relationships between microstructure, mechanical properties, degradation mechanisms, and engineering performance.
Experience developing or executing experimental materials programs and interpreting resulting data.
Ability to work directly with design engineers and convert materials science into practical engineering requirements, properties, and design limits.
Strong technical writing and communication skills.
Based in the United States
Willing to work on-site

Nice To Haves

Experience designing or executing reactor irradiation campaigns.
Experience with liquid-metal environments, particularly sodium.
Familiarity with ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code requirements applicable to nuclear components.
Experience supporting nuclear qualification, licensing, safety analysis, or regulatory interactions.
Experience working with national laboratories, nuclear research facilities, or advanced-reactor programs.

Responsibilities

Lead Aalo-X materials testing programs for structural metallic materials, including development of baseline mechanical property data, elevated-temperature properties, sodium environmental knockdown factors, and irradiation effects.
Serve as the primary materials technical lead for stainless steels and structural material degradation, including reactor vessel and other safety-significant metallic components.
Define test matrices, specimen requirements, environmental conditions, acceptance criteria, and data-reduction approaches for internal and external materials testing campaigns.
Develop and maintain technically defensible material property datasets and correlations for use in mechanical design and engineering analyses.
Support mechanical and structural engineers in evaluating material degradation mechanisms, allowable properties, lifetime limits, and design margins.
Provide materials expertise for engineering analyses and safety evaluations, including degradation models and assumptions related to temperature, sodium exposure, irradiation, creep, fatigue, embrittlement, and other relevant aging mechanisms.
Support development of material and component qualification plans, including identification of required testing, analysis, pedigree, surveillance, and supporting technical evidence.
Support ASME Code evaluations and interactions associated with material selection, qualification, allowable properties, environmental effects, and component design.
Provide technical support for regulatory and authorization-basis activities involving materials performance and degradation.
Develop strategies for incorporating materials surveillance and irradiation testing into the Aalo-X design and operating program.
Plan and support irradiation campaigns, including specimen selection, exposure conditions, post-irradiation examination, and interpretation of irradiation-effects data.
Interface with national laboratories, universities, testing laboratories, material suppliers, and other external partners executing materials characterization and testing.
Review and disposition materials test results and translate experimental findings into actionable design guidance.
Support procurement specifications, material qualification requirements, and technical evaluations of structural metallic materials as needed.
Mentor and collaborate with other materials engineers and help build Aalo's broader materials testing and qualification capability.