Quantum Mechanical Engineer

Full Job Description

PML's Quantum Sensors Division is hiring a Quantum Mechanical Engineer to help lead its Cryogenic Technologies Project.

This engineer will help advance research on cryogenic technologies that enable the adoption and dissemination of quantum technologies, especially quantum sensors.

They will also contribute to industrial activity in cryogenics through technology demonstrations, developing standards, and producing reference data. BASIC REQUIREMENTS: A. Degree in Engineering.

To be acceptable, the program must: Lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; OR Include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (1) statics, dynamics; (2) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (3) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (4) thermodynamics; (5) electrical fields and circuits; (6) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (7) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.

OR B.

Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, AND (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering.

The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.

Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration.

For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.

Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A.

The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A.

Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance.

Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions.

(The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) AND SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: In addition to the basic requirements listed above, applicants must have one year of specialized experience at the GS-12 level (ZP-III at NIST).

Specialized experience is defined as: Experience with cryogenic experimental techniques, including the design and construction of cryostats, cryogenic refrigerators, and sensors for cryogenic measurements.

Experience with the measurement of key physical quantities such as temperature, pressure, and flow at cryogenic temperatures.

Experience with cryogenic cooling cycles using thermodynamics and thermoacoustics, including the ability to simulate cryocooler behavior using software packages such as Sage, REGEN, and DeltaEC.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social).

Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment.

You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S.

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook.

If requesting reconsideration of your qualification determination, please refer to the following site: Applicant Reconsideration Major Duties:

NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) sets the definitive U.S.

standards for nearly every kind of measurement employed in commerce and research, sometimes across more than 20 orders of magnitude.

This position is in PML's Quantum Sensors Division, whose mission is to provide the metrological foundation for emerging electronic, magnetic, and photonic technologies by developing high-precision measurement devices, systems, standards, and methodologies and applying them to address national needs.

If you are hired as a Quantum Mechanical Engineer for this division, you will: Provide scientific, administrative, and safety leadership for the Cryogenic Technologies Project within the Quantum Sensors Division.

Recruit and work with students, scientists, and engineers to pursue project goals consistent with available funding levels.

Conduct research on cryocoolers to: reach the few-kelvin temperature regime improve understanding of fundamental cryocooler behavior, and identify and realize opportunities to improve cryocooler efficiency and other performance metrics such as size, weight, and power.

Support U.S. industrial activity in cryogenics through technology demonstrations, standards development, the production of reference data, and other activities.

Identify and realize opportunities to improve the cryogenics infrastructure of the Quantum Sensors Division, the Physical Measurement Laboratory, and NIST.