Research Engineer
Apply NowCompany: Air Force STEM
Location: Dayton, OH 45424
Description:
Job Overview
The AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate seeks to hire a motivated Mechanical or Materials Engineer with aerospace materials predictive modeling experience to serve as a Research Engineer in the Metals Branch of the Composite, Ceramic, Metallic and Materials Performance Division. This post closes at 1600 hrs on 6 Dec 24.
Position duties include, but are not limited to:
Develop, adapt, and refine material constitutive and deformation models that can be implemented in finite element method (FEM) codes for advanced aerospace metal components to support fundamental research and exploratory studies
Develop custom scripts, subroutines, or plugins with FEM software (e.g., ANSYS, Abaqus, FEniCS) to implement material models, streamline workflows, and improve modeling efficiency
Deploy FEM models for further understanding of inhomogeneous metals characteristics (composition, microstructure, stress) to explore and design advanced structural components for aerospace use
Use FEM to advance understanding of conventional and new material processing techniques, including thermal transport and solidification in additive manufacturing, to assess their impact on material performance
Develop and apply microstructure-based, physics-driven materials property models across multiple length scales, ensuring seamless integration and linkage between these scales
Validation of models by applying appropriate material properties, including nonlinear behaviors, anisotropy, and thermal-mechanical interactions
Collaborate with in-house and external partners to utilize machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to develop reduced-order, predictive performance models
Explore and integrate emerging FEA techniques to expand analysis capabilities
This position will be filled at the DR-2 (GS-12/13 equivalent) or DR-3 (GS-14 equivalent) level and is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. This position may be filled as a 5-year Flexible Length Term appointment (new government hires, current government term employees, etc.) with the option to later extend or convert to a permanent appointment.
NOTE: Must use MM/DD/YYYY date format for experience entries on resume.
For resume writing tips, facts about the federal hiring process and additional resources, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include/
At a minimum, an unofficial transcript of the highest relevant degree must be uploaded with application
Telework
Yes, this position is eligible for situational telework; as determined by agency policy
Remote Work (CONUS)
No, this position is not approved for remote work.
Required Qualifications
Desired Qualifications
(Requisition No. 71335)
Series
0801
0806
Other
The AFRL Materials and Manufacturing Directorate seeks to hire a motivated Mechanical or Materials Engineer with aerospace materials predictive modeling experience to serve as a Research Engineer in the Metals Branch of the Composite, Ceramic, Metallic and Materials Performance Division. This post closes at 1600 hrs on 6 Dec 24.
Position duties include, but are not limited to:
Develop, adapt, and refine material constitutive and deformation models that can be implemented in finite element method (FEM) codes for advanced aerospace metal components to support fundamental research and exploratory studies
Develop custom scripts, subroutines, or plugins with FEM software (e.g., ANSYS, Abaqus, FEniCS) to implement material models, streamline workflows, and improve modeling efficiency
Deploy FEM models for further understanding of inhomogeneous metals characteristics (composition, microstructure, stress) to explore and design advanced structural components for aerospace use
Use FEM to advance understanding of conventional and new material processing techniques, including thermal transport and solidification in additive manufacturing, to assess their impact on material performance
Develop and apply microstructure-based, physics-driven materials property models across multiple length scales, ensuring seamless integration and linkage between these scales
Validation of models by applying appropriate material properties, including nonlinear behaviors, anisotropy, and thermal-mechanical interactions
Collaborate with in-house and external partners to utilize machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to develop reduced-order, predictive performance models
Explore and integrate emerging FEA techniques to expand analysis capabilities
This position will be filled at the DR-2 (GS-12/13 equivalent) or DR-3 (GS-14 equivalent) level and is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. This position may be filled as a 5-year Flexible Length Term appointment (new government hires, current government term employees, etc.) with the option to later extend or convert to a permanent appointment.
NOTE: Must use MM/DD/YYYY date format for experience entries on resume.
For resume writing tips, facts about the federal hiring process and additional resources, visit: https://www.usajobs.gov/Help/faq/application/documents/resume/what-to-include/
At a minimum, an unofficial transcript of the highest relevant degree must be uploaded with application
Telework
Yes, this position is eligible for situational telework; as determined by agency policy
Remote Work (CONUS)
No, this position is not approved for remote work.
Required Qualifications
- US Citizen
- Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance
- Possess a professional science or engineering (S&E) degree, in a relevant technical field, from an accredited (or ABET accredited for engineering) academic institution; if the highest earned S&E degree is a Bachelor's.
- The applicant must also have one year of experience at the DR-01 (GS-11 equivalent) level to be hired as a DR-02 and one year of specialized experience as a DR-02 (GS-13) to be hired as a DR-03.
- Specialized experience includes aerospace materials predictive modeling.
- This is an Acquisition Professional Development Program (APDP) position requiring Level II certification in the Science and Technology Manager (N) functional stall.
- Applicants must list all completed APDP certifications on their resume.
- Selectee will have 24 months to meet the APDP certification requirements for the position.
Desired Qualifications
- Masters or PhD in Materials (Metallurgical) Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related
- Experience in Finite Element Modeling, coding and application
- Basic knowledge of programming languages (python and/or c/c++) to develop and integrate in-house research codes with other research tools as well as with commercial engineering codes and tools
- Experience with codes such as Abaqus, ANSYS, FEniCS for thermal and mechanical analysis
- Experience with (Deform, Thermocalc, Dictra, Prisma, etc) and open source frameworks (MOOSE) for understanding microstructural evolution and response
- Good communication skills and ability to glean technical requirements from SMEs to build AF relevant programs
- Strong interpersonal and collaboration skills with a proven ability to build positive working relationships, communicate effectively, and collaborate across diverse teams to achieve common goals
(Requisition No. 71335)
Series
0801
0806
Other