Senior Principal Engineer - Turbine Blade Mechanical Design

Caterpillar•San Diego, CA

11d•Onsite

About The Position

Your Work Shapes the World at Caterpillar Inc. When you join Caterpillar, you're joining a global team who cares not just about the work we do – but also about each other. We are the makers, problem solvers, and future world builders who are creating stronger, more sustainable communities. We don't just talk about progress and innovation here – we make it happen, with our customers, where we work and live. Together, we are building a better world, so we can all enjoy living in it. Solar Turbines is looking for an experienced turbine blade mechanical design engineer to support development of new engine products within the New Product Introduction (NPI) organization. A suitable candidate will have demonstrated the ability to satisfy programmatic goals through a balanced approach to design, one which effectively meets technical requirements while maintaining focus on design for producibility and cost.

Requirements

10+ years of directly applicable Mechanical Design work experience
Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, or closely related Engineering degree
Direct Experience with design and analysis of internally cooled airfoil components for gas turbine engines
Direct Experience working investment cast, single-crystal, nickel-based superalloys, thermal barrier coatings, and harsh environment treatments
Working knowledge of blade life prediction methods and typical component durability limitations and failure mechanisms
Expert level application of Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerancing (GD&T)
Experience with CAD modeling

Nice To Haves

15+ years relevant mechanical design work experience
Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering
Expert level CAD modeling using CREO or NX, including parametric design and advanced surfacing methods
General understanding of heat transfer and aerodynamics fundamentals

Responsibilities

Work directly with cross-functional team members throughout the design process.
Develop blade design iterations in collaboration with turbine aero, heat transfer and product definition.
Establish and correct design direction by performing preliminary structural and modal analysis.
Gather producibility and cost feedback from investment casting suppliers from concept through validation phases.
Work closely with materials & processes (M&P) engineering to identify and develop new materials, coatings, and technologies.
Chair both peer and formalized design reviews, to enable release of tooling and hardware definition.
Identify opportunities to gain efficiencies via new or modified methods and design tools.
Provide supplier support and disposition hardware to allow receipt.
Monitor hardware condition during development and early production testing, to validate the design is meeting intent.