Full Professional Researcher – Thermal Systems, Advanced Heat Exchangers, and Data Center Cooling Technologies

UC Davis; Davis (CA); Presencial; USD 120.000 - 170.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

University of California, Davis's Western Cooling Efficiency Center seeks a Research Professional to lead a multidisciplinary program focused on advanced thermal-fluid systems, high-performance heat exchangers, liquid cooling, and energy-efficient thermal management for data centers, buildings, and industry.

The role covers design, development, testing, and modeling across AI/HPC cooling, manufacturing, and decarbonization technologies, with emphasis on leadership and mentoring of researchers

Formación

• Ph.D. in engineering with a strong research record in thermal-fluid systems.
• Minimum ten years of post-Ph.D. research leadership and mentoring.
• Experience directing externally funded research and proposal development.

Responsabilidades

• Lead independent and collaborative research programs in thermal-fluid systems.
• Develop and manage sponsored projects from federal, state, and industry sponsors.
• Direct laboratory experiments, prototype development, and validation.
• Supervise postdocs, graduate students, and staff engineers.
• Manage budgets, schedules, sponsor communications, and reporting.
• Establish collaborations with industry, labs, and agencies.
• Publish in peer‑reviewed journals and present at conferences.
• Contribute to invention disclosures and technology transfer activities.
• Provide strategic leadership for new research directions and big initiatives.

Conocimientos

Heat transfer

Fluid mechanics

Thermal system design

Data center cooling

Energy-efficient cooling

Thermal energy storage

Additive manufacturing

Project management

Mentoring

Educación

Ph.D. in engineering

Herramientas

CFD software

Simulation tools

Descripción del empleo

The Western Cooling Efficiency Center (WCEC) seeks to hire a Research Professional to lead and expand a multidisciplinary research program focused on advanced thermal-fluid systems, high-performance heat exchangers, liquid cooling technologies, and energy-efficient thermal management solutions for emerging industrial, building, and data center applications.

The research program will encompass the following areas:

• Advanced heat exchanger technologies, including the design, development, and demonstration of compact microchannel heat exchangers for applications spanning a wide range of operating temperatures and pressures.
• Thermal management technologies for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), edge computing, and future‑generation data centers, including direct‑to‑chip cooling, hybrid liquid‑air systems, and liquid‑cooled infrastructure.
• Advanced manufacturing processes for thermal systems, including additive manufacturing, laser welding, polymer fabrication, and scalable manufacturing methods for thermal‑fluid devices.
• Building energy and thermal systems, including heat pumps, thermal energy storage, waste heat recovery, low‑GWP refrigeration systems, and industrial decarbonization technologies.
• Development of integrated thermal‑fluid modeling, optimization, controls, diagnostics, and performance prediction tools for complex thermal systems.
• System‑level design, testing, demonstration, and technoeconomic analysis of energy‑efficient cooling and heating technologies.
• Technology commercialization activities, development and cultivation of industry partnerships, and technology transfer of innovations into deployable products and systems.

Responsibilities include:

• Conceiving, initiating, and leading independent and collaborative research programs.
• Developing and managing proposals and sponsored research projects funded by federal, state, utility, industrial, and private sponsors.
• Directing laboratory experiments, prototype development, performance testing, and validation activities.
• Supervise postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, undergraduate researchers, and staff engineers.
• Managing project budgets, schedules, sponsor communications, and reporting requirements.
• Establishing collaborations with university researchers, national laboratories, industry partners, utilities, and government agencies.
• Publishing research results in peer‑reviewed journals and presenting findings at national and international conferences.
• Contributing to invention disclosures, patent development, technology licensing, startup activities, and other technology transfer efforts.
• Providing strategic leadership in the development of new research directions and large‑scale multidisciplinary initiatives.

Applicants must possess a Ph.D. in a relevant engineering discipline and have a minimum of ten (10) years of post‑Ph.D. experience, including a demonstrated record of independent research leadership, scholarly achievement, proposal development, project management, and mentoring of students or research staff.

The successful candidate will have an established record of independent research accomplishments in one or more of the following areas:

• Heat transfer and fluid mechanics.
• Thermal system design and optimization.
• Advanced heat exchanger technologies.
• Data center thermal management and liquid cooling systems.
• Energy‑efficient heating, cooling, and refrigeration technologies.
• Thermal energy storage systems.
• Advanced manufacturing and thermal‑fluid device fabrication.
• Computational modeling, simulation, controls, and optimization of thermal systems.

Applicants must have demonstrated:

• A strong record of peer‑reviewed publications and scholarly contributions.
• Successful leadership or co‑leadership of externally sponsored research projects.
• Experience developing competitive proposals for federal, state, industry, or utility‑funded research programs.
• Experience planning, executing, and managing complex experimental research activities.
• Excellence in mentoring and supervising graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, engineers, and research staff.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including preparation of technical reports, sponsor deliverables, and scientific publications.