Who We Are:
The Power Cycle Machinery group at Southwest Research Institute takes concepts for power cycles and technologies that support the electricity generation/storage, energy distribution, and industrial power applications of the future and turns them into working prototypes.
Objectives of this Role:
- Support the design, analysis, and testing of systems and components used in a variety of power generation and energy storage processes.
- Apply principles of machine design, piping/pressure vessel design, process controls and instrumentation, fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, and heat transfer to develop designs and tests for components and systems.
- Apply knowledge of fabrication methods, assembly, and geometric dimensioning & tolerance (GD&T) to ensure components are designed in a way that can be manufactured and assembled.
- Utilize CAD software (Solidworks) to develop mechanical designs and drawings for components and assemblies.
- Develop and maintain system piping and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs) and process flow diagrams (PFDs).
- Communicate ideas, results, and other information to coworkers as well as commercial and government clients.
Daily and Monthly Responsibilities:
- Provide analytical and experimental support to more than one project in a team environment.
- Typical tasks include literature reviews, design, analysis, and simulation development.
- Use commercial engineering software for design and analysis, such as ANSYS Workbench, NPSS, CAESAR.
- Contribute and be responsible for technical development of experimental test programs, including developing/operating a new test rig.
- Generate presentations and reports for internal and external customers to document and communicate the status of project work.
- Provide troubleshooting support for tests and simulations with a firm understanding of theories and concepts using a first-principles approach.
- Be a problem solver that exercises creativity and independent judgement in determining approaches to solve a wide range of technical problems.
Requirements:
- Requires a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering or related engineering degrees.
- 0-5 years: Mechanical design experience applying tools like FEA to predict component/assembly stresses and evaluate fitness for service.
- 0-5 years: Design, commissioning, and testing experience with high pressure and/or extreme temperature process systems.
- 0-5 years: Experience with industry standards, such as ASME Pressure Vessel Code, ASME B31 Piping Codes, machine assembly, maintenance, and repair.
- A valid/clear driver's license is required.
