RESEARCH ENGINEER - SR. RESEARCH ENGINEER - Cycle Performance Analyst & NPSS Developer at Southwest Research Institute

Who We Are:

The Propulsion & Energy Machinery Section performs engineering R&D in the fields of air-breathing and liquid propulsion. Our team develops the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation software, the industry-standard software for cycle and performance analysis of these advanced propulsion systems.

Objectives of this Role:

• Work in a team to support Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) software.
• Activities include engineering model development, program interface development, software testing, code infrastructure development and code development.
• Conduct thermal-fluid simulations using one-dimensional tools, either NPSS or commercial software, for propulsion and power generation applications which include common cycle components, such as compressor, turbines, heat exchangers, combustors, and motor/generators.
• Provide modeling and hands-on testing support for complex test rigs and prototype machinery being built and tested at SwRI.
• Provide engineering support to NPSS users and clients.
• Participate in teaching NPSS training courses. Promote the use of NPSS at technical conferences through papers and presentations.

Daily and Monthly Responsibilities:

• Resolve NPSS software bugs in the engineering elements, models, and interfaces.
• Add new modeling capabilities to NPSS. These are generally long-duration, complex efforts that are decided upon annually by the NPSS consortium members.
• Support cycle model efforts for projects within the Department using NPSS or other engineering software to perform evaluations of problems of propulsion, power, and energy machinery and associated sub-systems.
• Document progress through technical presentations and update Consortium members through regular meetings.
• Work independently with minimal supervision. Participate in design and code reviews.

Requirements:

• Requires a Bachelors, Masters or a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineer, Aeronautical Engineering, or related.
• Advanced degrees will be considered in lieu of some years of experience.
• 2-5 years: Experience conducting fluid and thermodynamics analyses of gas turbines or similarly complex systems using at least one of the following tools: NPSS, MATLAB, LabVIEW, Engineering Equation Solver (EES), Flownex, Easy5, Thermal Desktop, or PROOSIS, GasTurb, Modelica.
• 2-5 years: Experience developing engineering software or scripts based on the C++ programming language.
• A valid/clear driver's license is required.