Mechanical Engineer 2 - Power Systems Materials Manufacturing

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Richland, WA

Pay: $89,300-$131,200/yr

Shift: Full time

Overview:

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as Directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.

Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including: modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system; and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.

The Energy Processes and Materials Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, creates and delivers real world solutions that support the Department of Energy’s goals for national energy security. We deliver new technologies that connect fundamental science to applications in areas such as energy storage, advanced materials manufacturing, applied catalysis, advanced separations, biomass conversions, carbon capture and utilization, and hydrogen production and storage. We employ a systems perspective that includes discovery, technology development, and scale-up as well as economic, regulatory, and market acceptance issues necessary for successful technology commercialization.

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Employees and their families are offered medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, robust telehealth care options, several mental health benefits, free wellness coaching, health savings account, flexible spending accounts, basic life insurance, disability insurance\*, employee assistance program, business travel insurance, tuition assistance, relocation, backup childcare, legal benefits, supplemental parental bonding leave, surrogacy and adoption assistance, and fertility support. Employees are automatically enrolled in our company-funded pension plan\* and may enroll in our 401 (k) savings plan with company match\*. Employees may accrue up to 120 vacation hours per year and may receive ten paid holidays per year.

• Research Associates excluded.

\*\*All benefits are dependent upon eligibility.

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Responsibilities:

Our expert staff provide multi-disciplinary solutions to complex energy and environmental issues. Key capabilities include science (chemical and mechanical). We employ a systems perspective that includes discovery technology development and scale-up, as well as economic, regulatory, and market acceptance issues necessary for successful technology commercialization. The Energy Processes & Materials (EP&M) Division focuses on three mission contributions at PNNL: Energy Resiliency, Electricity Infrastructure, & Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.

The Applied Materials and Manufacturing (AMM) Group in EP&M Division at PNNL is seeking a Mechanical Engineer to lead experimental process development for power systems materials such as conductors and magnets. The position will develop operating conditions and process envelopes for power system materials with enhanced performance enabled by advanced manufacturing platforms such as shear/friction extrusion, friction stir welding/forging, friction stir additive manufacturing and cold spray. The engineer will collaborate with process engineers, manufacturing experts and materials researchers to translate experimental findings into documented operating recommendations based on material.

The successful candidate will build a technical specialization in thermomechanical process development and contribute to research planning and publications.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design experiments to evaluate operating parameters, tooling designs, manufacturing configurations and feedstock conditions using statistical experimental design where appropriate.
• Design tooling using CAD and coordinate their development with external or internal manufacturing facilities/vendors.
• Investigate process stability, and product quality to develop frameworks for operational controls.
• Develop process windows and document the evidence, limitations, and repeatability supporting recommended conditions.
• Work with process engineers to design and deploy digital twin technologies that integrate physics-based models, real-time operational data, and advanced analytics to improve manufacturing performance and