Junior Thermal Research Engineer

Boyd Corporation; Fredericksburg (VA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation offered

On-site work in Fredericksburg

Job summary

Boyd Corp is seeking a Junior Thermal Research Engineer to join a multidisciplinary team focused on thermal management for high-performance electronics and data center systems.

You will design cooling systems, build and validate models, and apply AI methods to enable faster design cycles and better system insights. Relocation may be offered for candidates based in the United States.

Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• Relocation may be offered for this role to the United States.
• Experience with data center cooling or high-performance electronics thermal management is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop thermal management systems including liquid and two-phase cooling.
• Develop cooling components like cold plates and heat exchangers.
• Create thermal-fluid models for system-level performance predictions.
• Apply machine learning and data-driven methods to optimization tasks.
• Support DOE and experimental testing with instrumentation and data collection.
• Document designs with CAD models and test plans (SolidWorks, P&IDs).

Skills

Thermal management

Liquid cooling

Two-phase cooling

Heat exchangers

DOE

Instrumentation

Data acquisition

Model validation

SolidWorks

Python

MATLAB

P&IDs

Education

Master’s or PhD in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

Python

MATLAB

P&IDs

Job description

Job Description

The Junior Thermal Research Engineer will work within a multidisciplinary engineering team to develop innovative thermal management and test solutions for high-performance electronics and data center systems. The role combines thermal system design, modeling, experimentation, and data science techniques, with a focus on enabling faster design cycles and improved system-level insight.

Primary Responsibilities

• Support the design and development of thermal management systems, including liquid cooling, two-phase cooling, and heat exchanger-based architectures
• Cooling system design including cold plates, cooling distribution units (CDUs) and passive two-phase solutions (heat pipes and vapor chambers)
• Develop and apply thermal-fluid modeling tools (steady-state and transient) for system-level performance prediction, including pressure drop, heat transfer, and coolant distribution
• Implement and use machine learning, AI and data-driven methods
• Support data center cooling system modeling, including rack-level and component-level thermal architecture analysis
• Conduct design of experiments (DOE) and support experimental testing, including instrumentation, data acquisition, and validation of models
• Create and maintain CAD models and engineering documentation (e.g., SolidWorks designs, P&IDs, drawings, and test plans)
• Assist in development of computational tools and simulation frameworks (Python, MATLAB) to support engineering decision-making and research activities
• Support prototype development and testbed construction, including integration of thermal systems and measurement capabilities
• Collaborate with senior engineers and researchers to:
  • Evaluate new cooling technologies
  • Improve system efficiency and performance
  • Identify key design tradeoffs
• Contribute to technical documentation, reports, and presentations of results
• Support component and material selection for thermal systems (heat exchangers, sensors, cooling loops)
• Assist in manufacturing and assembly support, including prototype builds and testing

Basic Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD degree in Mechanical Engineering or related field
• Eaton will not consider applicants for employment immigration sponsorship or support for this position. This means that Eaton will not support any CPT, OPT, or STEM OPT plans, F-1 to H-1B, H-1B cap registration, O-1, E-3, TN status, I-485 job portability, etc.

Relocation may be offered for the role, must be currently located in the United States.

Preferred Experience

• Exposure to data center cooling or high-performance electronics thermal management
• Experience developing reduced-order or surrogate models for thermal systems
• Familiarity with optimization-driven design workflows
• Experience integrating modeling and experimental validation
• Focus or coursework in heat transfer, fluid dynamics, or thermal systems required
• Laboratory experience
• Graduate research experience in thermal-fluid sciences or cooling technologies strongly preferred

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All Job Posting Locations: Fredericksburg Remote Type On-Site

EEO Statement

Boyd Corp is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Boyd is the trusted global innovator of sustainable solutions that make our customers’ products better, safer, faster, and more reliable. As a leader in the industry we focus on our people, customers, technology, innovation, materials, and market needs of today and performance requirements of the future. We are always looking for ambitious minds to help us deliver advanced technology to our customers. Together we solve the challenges of today and empower solutions of tomorrow. Boyd is the world’s leading innovator in sustainable engineered material that make our customers’ products better, safer, faster, and more reliable. We develop and combine technologies to solve ambitious performance targets in our customers’ most critical applications. By implementing technologies and material science in novel ways to seal, protect, cool, and interface, Boyd has continually redefined the possible and championed customer success for over 90 years.