Senior Thermal Engineer, Mission Electronics

Job description

Job responsibilities

• Own the thermal design and analysis of electronics—from board and component level up through enclosures and full assemblies—for products across air vehicles, maritime and ground systems, and wearables/body-worn devices.
• Use first principles as the basis for every decision and discern the right level of analysis to apply. Execute hand calculations, spreadsheets, and MATLAB/Python first-order models to inform the path forward before…
• Define thermal architecture and heat-rejection paths—conduction, natural and forced convection, cold plates, heat sinks, heat pipes, thermal interface materials, and coatings—to keep components within junction and…
• Establish hot, cold, and edge-case operating conditions for each platform based on industry standards and intended use, accounting for altitude and flight envelopes on air vehicles, salt fog and humidity in maritime…
• Work with electrical, mechanical, and systems engineers to characterize and document component power dissipation under different operating modes.
• Communicate the pros and cons of system and packaging architectures with respect to thermal considerations, and drive trade studies that balance thermal margin against size, weight, and power.
• Own the thermal FEA/CFD models and predict system performance. Define red/yellow design limits for test and operation.
• Define and execute prototype builds and tests to verify thermal designs (do CAD, select sensors and DAQ equipment, post-process data, summarize results, etc.).

Job requirements

• MS or higher degree in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, applied physics, or a related field with a focus on heat transfer and fluid dynamics (BS with additional experience considered)
• In-depth understanding of heat transfer and fluid dynamics
• 5+ years of experience designing thermal solutions for electronics or integrated hardware products
• Practical experience with electronics cooling and packaging—component and board-level thermal management, TIMs, heat sinks, heat pipes, cold plates, and enclosure heat rejection
• Practical experience designing both passive and active thermal management systems
• Thermal testing experience—sensor selection, data acquisition, and data post-processing
• Thermal FEA/CFD experience—STAR-CCM+, ANSYS, Icepak, or FloEFD
• CAD experience with Siemens NX or SolidWorks