Senior Thermal Engineer

Mainstream Engineering•Rockledge, FL

About The Position

Mainstream Engineering is seeking a Senior Thermal Engineer to develop advanced thermal management technologies for military, government, and commercial applications. This R&D-focused role is suited to an engineer who enjoys solving challenging problems, working with hardware, and turning ideas into products. The engineer may take concepts from initial development through prototype design, testing, and production, while identifying technologies, developing proposals, building experimental hardware, analyzing results, and working directly with customers. Current work includes thermal systems for hypersonic vehicles, high-power laser systems, and power-dense aerospace platforms, with an emphasis on reducing size, weight, and power while improving system performance. Technologies include microchannel cooling, additively manufactured 3D cooling passages, single-phase pumped fluid loops, vapor-compression and other refrigeration cycles, radiation thermal management, heat exchangers and electronics coldplates, thermal energy storage, oscillating heat pipes, and advanced experimental cooling techniques.

Requirements

Master's or PhD in Mechanical Engineering or Aerospace Engineering.
Minimum GPA of 3.3 for all completed degrees.
At least 10 years of professional engineering experience.
Strong understanding of heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics.
Hands-on laboratory, prototype, or experimental testing experience.
Experience developing thermal systems, components, or technologies.
Ability to independently lead technical projects and solve complex engineering problems.
U.S. citizenship due to ITAR requirements.

Nice To Haves

Experience with data acquisition systems; LabVIEW experience is a plus.
Experience with CFD and/or FEA; ANSYS/FLUENT experience is a plus.
Experience designing and testing thermal management systems.
Experience working with aerospace, defense, or other high-performance systems.
Experience taking R&D concepts through prototype development and into production.

Responsibilities

Lead thermal engineering projects from concept through prototype, testing, and production.
Develop thermal management solutions for real-world applications.
Perform analytical calculations involving heat transfer, thermodynamics, and fluid mechanics.
Develop and evaluate computational models using CFD and FEA tools.
Design, build, instrument, and test experimental hardware.
Develop laboratory test plans and analyze experimental data.
Work with temperature, pressure, flow, and other instrumentation and data acquisition systems.
Collaborate directly with customers to understand requirements and develop solutions.
Prepare technical proposals and develop new R&D concepts.
Support design for manufacturability and transition successful technologies into production.
Research emerging thermal technologies and identify opportunities for new product development.