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Fuel Cell Research Engineer Jobs in McCook, IL (NOW HIRING)

The University of Chicago

Research Manager

Chicago, IL · On-site +1

Department BSD PED - Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation About the Department The ... Proficiency in statistical programming languages (e.g., R, SAS, Python). * Experience managing data ...

The University of Chicago

Research Specialist 1

Chicago, IL · On-site

$19.23 - $26.44/hr

Department BSD PED - Hematology, Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation About the Department The ... Engineering, and the NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. The lab has expertise in cancer ...

Honeywell

R&D Tech II

Mccook, IL · On-site

... with engineers and scientists to bring new technologies from concept to reality. KEY ... fuels (sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel), blue and green hydrogen, carbon capture ...

Vizient

Principal, R&D Engineer

Chicago, IL · On-site

$156K - $290K/yr

... fuel exceptional performance through an inclusive environment both now and in the future. This is ... this R&D unit operates as it grows What We're Looking For * Strong software engineering ...

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All JobsFuel Cell Research Engineer JobsFuel Cell Research Engineer Jobs in McCook, IL

Fuel Cell Research Engineer information

See McCook, IL salary details

$10.9K

$95.6K

$116.7K

How much do fuel cell research engineer jobs pay per year?

As of Aug 21, 2026, the average yearly pay for fuel cell research engineer in McCook, IL is $95,586.00, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $79,100.00 and $107,800.00 per year, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What does a fuel cell research engineer do?

A Fuel Cell Research Engineer specializes in designing, developing, and improving fuel cell technologies, which are devices that convert chemical energy into electricity through electrochemical reactions. Their work involves researching new materials, optimizing system performance, and testing prototypes for efficiency and durability. They often collaborate with scientists and manufacturers to bring innovative energy solutions to market, with the goal of making fuel cells more practical and cost-effective for applications such as vehicles, portable power, and stationary energy systems.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a fuel cell research engineer?

To thrive as a Fuel Cell Research Engineer, you need a strong background in chemical engineering, materials science, or electrochemistry, typically supported by an advanced degree (MS or PhD). Experience with simulation software (e.g., COMSOL, MATLAB), laboratory instrumentation, and relevant safety protocols is commonly required. Strong problem-solving skills, attention to detail, and effective collaboration are standout soft skills in this field. These skills and qualifications are vital for innovating, optimizing, and advancing fuel cell technologies in both research and practical applications.

What are some common challenges faced by fuel cell research engineers in developing new technologies?

Fuel Cell Research Engineers often encounter challenges such as optimizing the efficiency and durability of fuel cell materials, overcoming cost limitations, and integrating new technologies into existing energy systems. They frequently work in multidisciplinary teams with chemists, materials scientists, and mechanical engineers to address these issues. Keeping up with rapid advancements and ensuring laboratory results can be scaled for industrial application also require strong problem-solving skills and adaptability.

What is the difference between Fuel Cell Research Engineer vs Fuel Cell Design Engineer?

AspectFuel Cell Research EngineerFuel Cell Design Engineer
Required CredentialsBachelor's or Master's in Chemical, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering; relevant certificationsBachelor's or Master's in similar fields; certifications may vary
Work EnvironmentResearch labs, R&D departments, academic institutionsDesign studios, manufacturing facilities, R&D teams
Employer & Industry UsageResearch institutions, energy companies, automotive R&DAutomotive, energy, and technology companies focusing on fuel cell products

Fuel Cell Research Engineers focus on developing new materials and improving fuel cell technologies through experimentation and analysis. In contrast, Fuel Cell Design Engineers concentrate on creating practical fuel cell systems and components for commercial applications. Both roles require similar educational backgrounds and often collaborate within the same industry sectors, but their core responsibilities differ between research and product development.

What cities near McCook, IL are hiring for Fuel Cell Research Engineer jobs?

Cities near McCook, IL with the most Fuel Cell Research Engineer job openings:

Fuel Cell Research Engineer jobs near you
Infographic showing various Fuel Cell Research Engineer job openings in McCook, IL as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 1% Internship, 1% As Needed, 76% Full Time, 20% Part Time, and 2% Contract. Highlights an 83% Physical, 4% Hybrid, and 13% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $95,586 per year, or $46 per hour.

Data Engineer - Materials Discovery Research Institute

UL Research Institutes

Skokie, IL • On-site

Full-time

Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Retirement, PTO

Posted 14 days ago

Job description

Job Description
We have an exciting opportunity for a Data Engineer at UL Research Institutes, based in our Skokie, Illinois office. This is an onsite opportunity.
The Data Engineer role within Materials Discovery focuses on building, maintaining, and supporting reliable data pipelines, data models, and data platforms that enable analytics and machine learning across the institute. The position applies core data engineering practices while contributing selectively to applied data science tasks such as problem definition, data sourcing and preparation, exploratory analysis, and model development.
Working closely with data scientists, researchers, senior technical team members, this role plays a key part in onboarding and integrating Engineering-generated data into Materials Discovery data infrastructure. The position contributes to architectural and tooling decisions and helps ensure data is well-structured, accessible, and fit for downstream analytical and modeling workflows.
UL Research Institutes:
At UL Research Institutes (ULRI), we expand the boundaries of safety science to create a more secure and sustainable world. For more than a century, we have studied the unintended consequences of innovation, designed solutions to mitigate risk and shared our findings with academia, scientists, manufacturers, and policymakers across industries. We identify critical safety and sustainability issues, asking the tough questions because we believe a safer world begins with knowledge.
Build a safer, more secure, and sustainable future with us. Join us and work with Materials Discovery teams who conduct the research required to produce that knowledge and put into practice.
Materials Discovery Research Institute:
The Materials Discovery Research Institute (MDRI) works to develop and deploy new materials with the potential to address current global safety challenges. Pursuing materials that will help produce transformational safety breakthroughs, MDRI harnesses the power of advanced computing and high-throughput experimental methods to create innovative materials that will produce resilience for a sustainable future and protect individual and societal health.
We focus on today's critical challenges, working to create new and better materials that will support renewable energy and environmental sustainability. Among our top priorities is research into materials capable of carbon capture and energy storage, with an eye toward reducing the adverse impacts of humanity's reliance upon fossil fuel resources and enabling a transition to renewable energy sources.
Above all, our research builds on our commitment to a safer, more sustainable future.
What you'll learn and achieve:
As the you Data Engineer, will play a key role in the rapid growth of UL as you:
  • Execute the architecture and technical implementation of MDRI's data platforms, making informed trade-off decisions related to scalability, performance, cost, security, and reliability.
  • Define and enforce standards and best practices for data modeling, pipeline design, documentation, data quality, and reproducibility, including implementation of automated data quality checks and validation processes.
  • Design, build, and evolve data architectures and ETL/ELT pipelines to collect, process, and store data from diverse sources (e.g., laboratory systems, databases, APIs, and external data providers), ensuring data accuracy, completeness, reproducibility, and timeliness.
  • Evaluate, recommend, and introduce modern data technologies and patterns (e.g., cloud-native services, orchestration frameworks, feature-ready datasets) aligned with Materials Discovery's current and future needs while proactively addressing system limitations, scaling risks, and performance bottlenecks
  • Lead integration of disparate data sources into unified, high-quality datasets and ensure data governance, security, and compliance with institutional standards and applicable regulations.
  • Maintain comprehensive documentation and contribute to data dictionaries and metadata repositories to support long-term sustainability.
  • Collaborate with researchers and stakeholders to determine effective data and modeling approaches for research, operational, and business challenges.
  • Assess, select, and justify modeling techniques; perform exploratory data analysis and feature engineering; and develop, train, and evaluate machine learning and statistical models to establish feasibility, baselines, and data requirements.
  • Clearly document assumptions, inputs, outputs, limitations, and evaluation results, and hand off validated models, feature sets, and documentation for deployment and operationalization.
  • Act as a technical partner and advisor to researchers, analysts, and leadership on data architecture, analytical feasibility, and strategic trade-offs, while influencing cross-functional technical direction and planning discussions
  • Assist with troubleshooting complex data and model issues across development and production environments.
  • Perform other duties as assigned.

What you'll experience working at UL Research Institutes: We have pursued our mission of working for a safer, more secure, and sustainable world for nearly 130 years, embedding conscientious stewardship into everything we do.
  • People: Our people make us special. You'll work with a diverse team of experts respected for their independence and transparency and build a network, because our approach is collaborative. We collaborate across disciplines, organizations, and geographies to build the global scientific response that today's global challenges require.
  • Interesting work: Every day is different for us here. We see what's on the horizon and use our expertise to build the foundations of a safer future. You'll have the opportunity to push the boundaries of human understanding as part of a team working to advance the public good.
  • Grow and achieve: We learn, work, and grow together through targeted development, reward, and recognition programs.
  • Values. Four core values guide our work: collaboration, respect, integrity, and beneficence. By living our values, we inspire the trust essential to fulfilling our mission and foster the partnerships that enable us to pursue a beneficent future in which we all can thrive.
  • Total Rewards: All employees at UL Research Institutes are eligible for bonus compensation. We offer comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans and a generous 401k matching structure of up to 5% of eligible pay. Moreover, we invest an additional 4% into your retirement saving fund after your first year of continuous employment. Depending on your role, you may be able to discuss flexible working arrangements with your manager. We also provide employees with paid time off, including vacation, holiday, sick, and volunteer days.

What makes you a great fit:
While no one candidate will embody every quality, the successful candidate will bring many of the following professional competencies and personal attributes:
  • Demonstrated experience owning and evolving data platforms or systems end-to-end.
  • Strong proficiency in SQL and Python, including experience with data analysis and machine learning libraries (e.g., pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn, PyTorch, TensorFlow).
  • Experience with cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud and associated data and analytics services.
  • Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code and containerization (e.g., Terraform, Docker, Kubernetes).
  • Experience with data integration, orchestration tools, and distributed processing frameworks (e.g., Apache Spark, Azure Databricks, Azure Data Factory).
  • Solid understanding of machine learning fundamentals, feature engineering, evaluation techniques, and experiment reproducibility.
  • Knowledge of data governance, security, privacy, and compliance best practices.
  • Strong communication, problem-solving, and technical judgment skills, with the ability to adapt messaging for technical and non-technical audiences.

Professional education and experience requirements for the role include:
  • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science, Engineering, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
  • Minimum 4 years of experience in a data engineering, analytics engineering, or closely related role.
  • Demonstrated experience supporting or developing machine learning, statistical

About UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement
UL Research Institutes and UL Standards & Engagement are nonprofit organizations dedicated to advancing safety science research through the discovery and application of scientific knowledge. We conduct rigorous independent research and analyze safety data, convene experts worldwide to address risks, share knowledge through safety education and public outreach initiatives, and develop standards to guide safe commercialization of evolving technologies. We foster communities of safety, from grassroots initiatives for neighborhoods to summits of world leaders. Our organization employs collaborative and scientific approaches with partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and progress toward improving safety, security, and sustainability, ultimately enhancing societal well-being.
To learn more, visit our websites UL.org and ULSE.org.
Salary Range:
$81,456.37-$112,002.51
Pay Type:
Salary

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