Additive Manufacturing Program Manager Jobs in Washington, DC

Description
PREP Research Associate
This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.
Research Title:
Physics-Based Simulation and Dual-Laser Process Optimization for Additive Manufacturing
The work will entail:
As part of its efforts to meet the needs of U.S. manufacturers in advanced manufacturing, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed open-architecture additive manufacturing (AM) research platforms, including the Additive Manufacturing Metrology Testbed (AMMT) and the Laser Processing and Metrology Testbed (LPDT). This 50% part-time position will primarily support physics-based modeling, simulation, and optimization of advanced laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processing strategies, with particular emphasis on dual-laser scan strategies and model-based process control. The Research Associate will develop and apply thermal, melt-pool, and thermomechanical models to design and optimize laser scan paths and power schedules, and will compare model predictions with process-monitoring measurements and experimental results. The associate will also support post-process material characterization and experimental validation. The position may be performed primarily remotely; occasional travel to NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and to synchrotron facilities, including the Advanced Photon Source (APS) and Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source (CHESS), will be required to support on-site experiments.
U.S. Citizen preferred
Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
• Develop, calibrate, and apply physics-based thermal, melt-pool, and thermomechanical models for laser powder bed fusion, including finite element, finite volume, finite difference, and/or reduced-order approaches.
• Use simulation and experimental data to develop and optimize advanced single- and dual-laser scan strategies and laser power schedules for control of thermal history, melt-pool behavior, microstructure, porosity, distortion, spatter, and related process outcomes.
• Develop and document MATLAB, Python, or similar computational workflows for simulation, optimization, data processing, visualization, and quantitative analysis.
• Compare model predictions with in-situ process-monitoring and synchrotron measurements, and use experimental results for model calibration and validation.
• Support planning, setup, execution, and data collection for experiments conducted on NIST AMMT, LPDT, and related research platforms, including occasional experiments at external synchrotron facilities.
• Perform and analyze post-process material characterization using techniques such as optical microscopy, SEM, EBSD, metallography, X-ray computed tomography, and density/porosity measurements.
Present and document research results at internal meetings and coordinate effectively with NIST researchers, university collaborators, and external facility partners.
Qualifications
• PhD degree, or current enrollment in a PhD program, in mechanical engineering, materials science and engineering, or a closely related field, with research focused on additive manufacturing, process modeling, or process control.
• Demonstrated experience with physics-based modeling and simulation of laser powder bed fusion or related laser-material interaction processes.
• Experience with thermal and/or thermomechanical modeling using finite element, finite volume, finite difference, reduced-order, or related numerical methods.
• Experience with laser scan strategy development, process optimization, laser power scheduling, feedforward control, or other model-based control approaches for additive manufacturing.
• Experience with multi-laser or dual-laser additive manufacturing modeling, simulation, control, or experimentation is strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with laser powder bed fusion experiments, in-situ process monitoring, and post-process material characterization.
• Proficiency in MATLAB and/or Python for scientific computing, modeling, optimization, and data analysis; experience with C/C++ or related tools is desirable.
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment while collaborating effectively with a multidisciplinary team, with willingness to travel occasionally to NIST and external synchrotron facilities for on-site experiments.
Application Instructions
Please upload the following with your application:
• CV/Resume
*Please limit C.V to 3 pages only and ONLY include a valid email address for your contact info. Your resume will not be considered if the following information is included on your CV/resume.
• Self portraits
• Phone number
• Home address/Country
• Citizenship status
• Languages spoken
• Sex/Gender
Privacy Act Statement
Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)
Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor's degree holders, graduate students, master's degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.
PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.
Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.
Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use of the information you submit for the purpose stated.