Senior Technical Applications Engineer — Polymer Compounding & Additive Manufacturing Materials

Numakers; Surat; On-site; INR 1,200,000 - 2,400,000; Full time

Job summary

Numakers FB Users Group is seeking an R&D engineer to lead the materials laboratory for thermoplastic filament systems. You will define test protocols, drive formulation trials, and optimize compounding and printing performance, building the lab from the ground up.

The role demands 4+ years in polymer compounding, hands-on experience with DSC, MFR, mechanical testing, and FTIR interpretation, plus practical FDM/FFF printing know-how. Strong decision-making with incomplete data is essential.

Qualifications

• M.Sc./M.Tech in Polymer Science, Materials Engineering, or Chemical Engineering (or B.Tech with equivalent depth).
• 4+ years hands-on with polymer compounding — biopolymer or polyolefin modification experience strongly preferred
• Working fluency with DSC, MFR, mechanical testing; FTIR interpretation a plus
• Practical FDM/FFF printing experience, or the curiosity to build it fast
• Comfort designing experiments and making decisions with incomplete data

Responsibilities

• Own the technical development cycle for thermoplastic filament systems: formulate trials, optimize compounding, and validate print performance.
• Define test protocols, qualification standards, and lab infrastructure for the function.
• Design experiments for polymer blend systems and performance benchmarking.
• Conduct print performance characterization and relate results to formulation and process variables.
• Benchmark via thermal analysis (DSC, TGA) and spectroscopy (FTIR); perform root-cause analysis of failures.

Skills

Experiment design

Polymer compounding

DSC

MFR

Mechanical testing

FTIR interpretation

FDM printing

Education

M.S./M.Tech in Polymer Science or related

B.Tech with equivalent depth

Tools

DSC

MFR

FTIR

TGA

Mechanical testing equipment

Job description

Numakers is India's largest 3D printing filament manufacturer, building a global 3D printing materials company from India. We are hiring a dedicated R&D engineer to lead our materials laboratory.

The role

You will own the technical development cycle for thermoplastic filament systems: formulation trials, compounding process optimization, and print performance validation. This is a build-from-zero role — you define the test protocols, qualification standards, and lab infrastructure that the function will run on.

What you'll work on

• Design of experiments for polymer blend systems: impact modification, nucleation and crystallization behavior, filler dispersion, and melt rheology
• Twin-screw compounding trials — screw configuration, temperature profiling, residence time, and devolatilization optimization
• Additive qualification: evaluating tougheners, compatibilizers, lubricants, and stabilizer packages against defined acceptance criteria (particle size distribution, MFR shift, thermal stability, migration behavior)
• Print performance characterization: interlayer adhesion, dimensional accuracy, warpage, mechanical testing (izod, tensile, flexural) correlated back to formulation and process variables
• Competitive benchmarking via thermal analysis (DSC, TGA) and spectroscopy (FTIR)
• Root-cause analysis of production and field failures

What we're looking for

• M.Sc./M.Tech in Polymer Science, Materials Engineering, or Chemical Engineering (or B.Tech with equivalent depth)
• 4+ years hands-on with polymer compounding — biopolymer or polyolefin modification experience strongly preferred
• Working fluency with DSC, MFR, mechanical testing; FTIR interpretation a plus
• Practical FDM/FFF printing experience, or the curiosity to build it fast
• Comfort designing experiments and making decisions with incomplete data