Staff Computational Materials Scientist

Commonwealth Fusion Systems•Devens, MA

18h•$130,000 - $200,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Materials and Processing (M&P) Department at CFS supports design engineers, supply chain, and manufacturing by selecting materials, unambiguously defining materials and processing routes, validating and measuring those materials and their properties, and conducting R&D to develop new materials and processes to enable fusion power deployment. M&P at CFS is organized around three primary thrusts: engineering, test and characterization, and development programs. The work is undertaken in support of delivering SPARC, the net energy tokamak under construction in Devens, MA, and ultimately in designing the ARC fusion power plant. These devices pose unique materials challenges including neutron fluxes produced by deuterium-tritium fusion, high heat loads, molten salt coolant systems, complex component topologies, high magnetic fields, and high mechanical loading in cryogenic conditions. To support this mission, the CFS Materials Department is seeking a Computational Materials Scientist with expertise in process-structure-properties relationships, physics informed modeling, and materials in extreme environments. The ideal candidate would have a background in both computational materials simulation methods, and materials science and/or physical chemistry. The responsibilities will include physics-based modeling, synthetic data generation, and first-principles modeling and simulation to support development of CFS materials. They will collaborate with other engineers and subject matter experts to identify highest sensitivity parameters and prioritize experimental work for greatest impact to decreasing uncertainty.

Requirements

Materials Science and Engineering, Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics, Physical Chemistry, Computer Science or related field
Minimum of 10+ years experience in experimental or computational materials science
Experience using computational materials science tools and integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) tools to answer specific scientific or engineering questions across length scales
Implementation and/or authorship of codes for calculation and analyses of material properties and microstructures
Predictive models for material properties and microstructure evolution in extreme environments
Validation of models with experimental data or physical mechanism bounds
Understanding process-structure-properties-performance principles and fundamental mechanisms responsible for property changes in extreme environments
Understanding of the underlying models that enable materials simulation methods across length scales including; Atomistic, molecular dynamics, density functional theory, Monte Carlo, phase field, crystal plasticity, dislocation dynamics, and computational thermodynamics, finite element
Scientific computing, numerical algorithms, FEM, FD, FVM, BEM, eigen/linear/PDE solvers, convex optimization, computational geometry, advanced statistical methods
High-performance computing: distributed processing, message parsing interface, gpu acceleration
Understanding of the sensitivity to uncertainty in the inputs and outputs of those calculations or models
Demonstrated ability to work effectively cross-functionally
Excellent organizational skills including prioritization of multiple concurrent projects
Ability to break down complex problems into smaller deliverables that add value
Perform activities such as typing and sitting for extended periods of time
Dedication to safety to mitigate industrial hazards that may include heat, cold, noise, fumes, strong magnets, lead (Pb), high voltage, and cryogenics
Willingness to travel or work required nights/weekends/on-call occasionally. Travel less than 10%

Nice To Haves

Experience displaying complex quantitative data in a simple, intuitive format and presenting findings clearly and concisely
Experience making and justifying decisions in fast paced engineering settings
Written and verbal communication with technical teams
Taking under-defined problems and driving them to a state of completion
Operating in a flexible, service-oriented engineering domain team

Responsibilities

Use and build computational toolsets, workflows, and methods to generate predicted material properties in extreme environments including temperature, radiation, and magnetic field with uncertainty bounds informed by physical mechanisms
Identify chemical and microstructural features that strongly impact material performance in extreme environments, and quantify the relationships for use in optimization for engineering application
Inform design of experiments for materials in extreme environments, including simultaneous corrosion, stress, and irradiation. As well as magnetic field, electric field, and high temperature
In collaboration with design and analysis engineers, develop material design curves methodology capable of determining statistically significant minimum properties for tokamak applications such as low and high cycle fatigue, dielectric breakdown, radiation effects
Identify gaps in knowledge and experimental capability which can be filled via simulation or model building
Assist in benchmarking and creating metrics for material property variability and sources of variability in manufacturing,fabrication, assembly, and processes
Collaborate with other M&P Engineers to create workflows to enable the appropriate capture, storage, data visualization and analysis of data generated within the materials domain
Support writing materials standard specifications
Stay current with the evolving technology and modeling techniques