Assistant Hydraulic Engineering Jobs in Texas (NOW HIRING)

POSITION SUMMARY

The Hydraulic Engineer - Centrifugal Pumps at Trillium Flow Technologies is a professional engineering role within the Research & Development department responsible for the hydraulic design, analysis, testing, and performance optimization of centrifugal pump hydraulic components - including impellers, diffusers, bowl assemblies, volutes, and inducers - across Trillium's pump product lines. Trillium serves customers in power generation, oil & gas, water & wastewater, and general industry with highly engineered centrifugal pumps, and this role is the technical owner of internal hydraulic performance for assigned product families. Greater than 50% of work time is spent on professional hydraulic engineering activities requiring advanced turbomachinery knowledge, independent engineering judgment, and discretionary decision-making consistent with the Learned Professional exemption under FLSA 29 C.F.R. 541.301 and the Professional exemption under California Labor Code 515. The Hydraulic Engineer reports to the R&D Manager and collaborates closely with the Senior Hydraulic Engineer, Mechanical Design Engineers, and R&D Technicians. This role integrates AI-assisted CFD, pump performance prediction, and hydraulic design optimization tools as standard engineering practice and operates with extreme ownership over all assigned hydraulic deliverables.

PRIMARY DUTIES

• Design centrifugal pump hydraulic components - impellers, diffusers, bowl assemblies, volutes, and inducers - applying turbomachinery design principles including velocity triangles, specific speed (Ns/Nq), head coefficient, flow coefficient, and hydraulic efficiency targets to develop internal geometries that meet pump performance specifications
• Develop and optimize pump performance curves (H-Q, efficiency-Q, power-Q, NPSHr-Q) for assigned pump families; apply design methods to achieve best efficiency point (BEP) targets, flatten the curve for stable operation, and meet head rise-to-shutoff requirements across the operating envelope
• Support the commercial and application engineering teams with technical responses to customer hydraulic queries, pump selection guidance, and bid qualification review for non-standard duty points
• Perform NPSH analysis and cavitation assessment for centrifugal pump designs - calculate NPSH required (NPSHr), evaluate NPSH available (NPSHa) margin per ANSI/HI 9.6.1, assess suction specific speed (Nss), design inducers where required to extend low-NPSH operating range, and apply cavitation erosion mitigation strategies to impeller and inducer geometries
• Execute computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of internal pump hydraulics - impeller passage flow, diffuser/volute pressure recovery, recirculation zones, radial and axial thrust loads - using ANSYS CFX, Fluent, or equivalent; interpret results and translate findings into geometry modifications that improve hydraulic performance
• Apply hydraulic design standards - ANSI/HI 1.1-1.6 (rotodynamic pumps), ANSI/HI 9.6 series (NPSH, vibration, derating), API 610 (centrifugal pumps for petroleum/petrochemical), API 685 (sealless pumps) - as applicable to the pump type and service to establish design requirements and acceptance criteria
• Develop and execute hydraulic performance test plans per ANSI/HI 14.6 (pump test acceptance criteria); participate in factory acceptance testing (FAT) and laboratory performance testing; analyze test data to validate hydraulic model predictions, calculate hydraulic efficiency, and document acceptance against specification tolerances
• Conduct root cause analysis (RCA) on hydraulic performance shortfalls, field failures, and cavitation damage - impeller erosion, volute cracking, diffuser recirculation, axial thrust imbalance - using engineering analysis, CFD review, and field data; develop and validate corrective hydraulic design changes
• Assist with completing hydraulic design documentation - design specifications, predicted performance curves, CFD reports, FMEA, test protocols, test reports, and engineering change orders - maintained in Trillium's engineering document management system in accordance with applicable codes and internal quality standards
• Support hydraulic selection for custom engineered-to-order (ETO) pump configurations - evaluate customer duty point requirements, select impeller trim, determine operating point on the performance curve, assess NPSH margin, and provide technical input to application engineers and the commercial team
• Collaborate with the Mechanical Design Engineer and Manufacturing Engineering to ensure hydraulic geometries are producible - casting tolerances, machining allowances, surface finish requirements, and assembly clearances - without compromising hydraulic performance targets
• Assist Procurement with hydraulic component supplier qualification - casting foundry capability assessments, pattern approval, dimensional inspection criteria for impeller and bowl castings
• Maintain hydraulic test rig calibration records and coordinate scheduled maintenance on performance test loops with R&D Technicians
• Monitor industry developments through participation in Hydraulic Institute (HI) technical committees, API standards working groups, and pump industry technical conferences relevant to Trillium's product roadmap

QUALIFICATIONS 

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or closely related engineering discipline from an ABET-accredited institution - coursework in fluid mechanics, turbomachinery, thermodynamics, and heat transfer required
• 0-3 years of professional engineering experience in centrifugal pump or rotating equipment design, development, or testing in an industrial, energy, or fluid-handling equipment environment
• Foundational knowledge of centrifugal pump hydraulic theory: Euler's turbomachinery equation, velocity triangles, specific speed, affinity laws, pump similarity, hydraulic losses, and slip factor
• Understanding of pump performance curves (H-Q, efficiency, BHP, NPSHr) and the ability to analyze operating point behavior, stable operating range, and performance derating under off-BEP conditions
• Familiarity with NPSH concepts - NPSHr, NPSHa, suction specific speed, cavitation inception, and the consequences of insufficient NPSH margin on pump performance and component life
• Proficiency with 3D CAD software (SolidWorks or equivalent) for hydraulic component geometry modeling; ability to read and create engineering drawings with GD&T per ASME Y14.5
• Exposure to or coursework in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) - setup, mesh generation, boundary conditions, and results interpretation for internal flow applications
• Strong analytical problem-solving skills with the ability to apply fluid mechanics fundamentals to centrifugal pump hydraulic design challenges

Preferred:

• Experience designing or analyzing centrifugal pump hydraulic components - impellers, diffusers, bowl assemblies, volutes, or inducers - in a manufacturing or product development environment
• Working knowledge of ANSI/HI standards (1.1-1.6, 9.6.1, 9.6.3, 9.6.5, 14.6) and/or API 610 for centrifugal pump design and acceptance testing
• Hands-on experience with pump performance testing - instrumentation, data acquisition, pump curve generation, and hydraulic efficiency calculation
• Experience with turbomachinery CFD using ANSYS CFX, ANSYS Fluent, or equivalent - particularly internal flow analysis of rotating/stationary passages in centrifugal pumps
• Knowledge of impeller and diffuser design methodologies - 1D mean-line design, blade-to-blade analysis, and 3D inverse design or direct CFD optimization
• Familiarity with centrifugal pump material selection for hydraulic components - cast iron, 316 SS, duplex stainless, CD4MCu, bronze - relative to fluid compatibility, erosion resistance, and cavitation damage tolerance
• Engineer-in-Training (EIT) certification or active pursuit of Professional Engineer (PE) license in California
• Experience with ERP-integrated engineering change order (ECO) processes in a manufacturing environment (Epicor or equivalent)