Material Research Scientist

Description

Leidos is hiring a Material Research Scientist to join a collaborative research effort supporting the National Energy Technology Lab's (NETL) Functional Materials team. One major role will be to assist NETL in the vetting and development of potential new technologies for addressing the near-term goals for H2 generation to support the goals of a future H2 economy which will require conducting experimental operations with a focus on preparing, characterizing, and testing materials for various thermal approaches to H2 generation. In addition to H2 this work will also focus on development of materials for various processes to produce syngas and other chemicals with near zero CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and other carbon containing fuel sources. The role will provide pivotal support in the vetting and development of potential new technologies for addressing the near-term goals for H2, syngas and chemical production with near zero CO2 emissions.

Location: This position is onsite at the NETL lab in Morgantown, WV.

What this opportunity with Leidos supporting NETL uniquely provides you:

• Working on applied, cutting-edge projects with global impact while being mentored by the nation's leading energy scientists and engineers.
• Real-world experience supplemented with technical development and discussions that provide unique insight into the broad range of mission critical engineering and scientific disciplines NETL leverages to support national energy research and policy development.
• Access to world-class, customized facilities and computational assets specific to high impact energy research, technology generation, and product development.
• Support proposal development focused on expanding industry and scientific partnerships and developing new technical opportunities for NETL with federal guidance.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Creating and executing experimental test plans of reactor systems including TGA/DSC, fixed bed, and fluidized bed reactors.
• Synthesizing, characterizing, and testing materials to evaluate performance for various applications.
• Exploring advanced synthesis and manufacturing techniques for catalyst and oxygen carrier development
• Collecting and analyzing experimental data.
• Leveraging analytical and material characterization techniques to gather primary data for reaction model development
• Utilizing engineering knowledge and experience to design, optimize and troubleshoot small-scale experiments.
• Presenting ideas and results to the research team.
• Contributing to future research planning and assisting with proposals.
• Working independently and collaboratively with members of the research team to meet milestones and deliverables.
• Assisting or leading efforts in writing research papers and creating conference presentations.

Required Education, Experience & Other:

• A Master's degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related field with 3+ years of prior relevant experience with a focus on mixed metal oxide synthesis for catalytic applications, heterogeneous catalysis, materials, or chemical processing.
• A working knowledge of reactor systems, thermos-gravimetric analysis, and analytical techniques such as Mass spectrometry and Gas chromatography, in addition to a background in material characterization with a working knowledge of X-Ray diffraction and microscopic techniques.
• Experience in the use of flow reactor systems with Mass spectrometers, Gas chromatographs,
• Possess a working knowledge of fundamental principles associated with reaction phenomena and reaction engineering.
• Possess previous experience with ether catalytic or non-catalytic (oxygen carrier) thermal systems, material development and their evaluation.
• Experience or familiarity with Thermogravimetric analyzers (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and other analytical devices.
• Must possess knowledge of proper laboratory operations to produce high quality data and results while following proper safety practices.
• Must be able to meet the requirements for gaining access to work on the NETL campus.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with material synthesis, characterization, testing and data analysis for various chemical processes.
• Experience with surfactant-based dispersions/agglomeration with carbon materials.
• Experience with kinetic rate parameter evaluation and basic energy analysis for systems with Aspen simulations.

Salary Range for this position: $95K to $105K

Original Posting Date:

2024-10-10
While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

Pay Range $81,250.00 - $146,875.00

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.