Thermal R&D Engineer

HRL Laboratories•Malibu, CA

19d•$140,700 - $175,950

About The Position

The Thermal R&D Engineer will drive innovation in advanced thermal management technologies and serve as a focal technical contributor across multidisciplinary programs. A strong heat transfer background is required. Applicable expertise may include electronics or microelectronics cooling, hypersonics, heat pipes and vapor chambers, or other thermal domains. Experience in microfabrication, microelectronics, or 3D heterogeneous integration (3DHI) aligns especially well with HRL's current and near-term project mix. This role is suited to someone with broad technical interests, creativity, and a passion for advancing thermal technology. The position involves developing thermal management components and systems, working with internal colleagues and external partners, executing thermal design, fabrication, and testing, and communicating results through presentations, reports, publications, and proposals. The engineer will also document inventions and support patenting activities.

Requirements

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related discipline.
Detailed knowledge of heat transfer.
Experimental laboratory experience planning, conducting, and analyzing heat transfer experiments.
Experience communicating scientific work through technical presentations and journal publications.
Experience with additive manufacturing/3D printing in design, process, and/or materials.
Experience with Finite Element Analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics for thermal, thermal-fluid, and thermostructural modeling.
CAD experience, such as SolidWorks or Inventor.
Experience with MATLAB or Python.
U.S. Person Status required.

Nice To Haves

Postdoctoral experience or 1–4 years of industry or national laboratory experience.
Experience with microfabrication in a cleanroom environment, such as advanced packaging, MEMS, microelectronics, or microfluidics.
Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Responsibilities

Innovate approaches, processes, and designs to address thermal management challenges and advance beyond current technology limits.
Lead development of novel thermal management components.
Serve as the primary thermal management focal on teams developing microelectronic, aerospace, and/or automotive systems, payloads, and/or platforms.
Collaborate with internal colleagues and external partners to achieve program objectives.
Plan, coordinate, and execute the design and fabrication of thermal management systems and microsystems.
Plan, coordinate, and execute thermal management test campaigns.
Communicate technical results through oral presentations, written reports, and publications.
Document inventions and support the patenting process.
Attend and present work at relevant technical conferences.
Write research proposals to support ongoing and future program needs.
Work effectively independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team.