Postdoc Fellow: Experimental Thermal & Fluid Sciences (Onsite)

Sandia National Laboratories; New Mexico; On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible work arrangements

Relocation assistance

Generous vacation and benefits

Job summary

Sandia National Laboratories seeks a Postdoctoral Appointee to conduct basic and applied research on thermal and fluid phenomena related to national security. You will work in the Experimental Thermal and Fluid Sciences Department on multiphase flow, thermal transport, and light‑matter interactions using advanced facilities.

You will develop experiments, test hypotheses, and publish results in peer‑reviewed journals while collaborating with staff engineers and test technologists.

Qualifications

• You have earned, or are pursuing, a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related engineering field, and will have completed all Ph.D. requirements before starting at Sandia.
• Excellent scientific writing and presentation skills, demonstrated through a record of peer‑reviewed publications and conference presentations.
• Ability to acquire and maintain a DOE L security clearance. US Citizenship is required.
• Experience with Bayesian data inference or other machine learning techniques applied to experimental data to construct or calibrate physical models.
• Basic experience with thermal and fluid simulation tools to support experiment design and data comparison.
• Experience applying nonintrusive optical diagnostics, including but not limited to DIH, OES, Rayleigh scattering, and PLIF.

Responsibilities

• Develop experiments and apply diagnostic techniques to explore multiphase, chemically‑reacting, thermal, hypersonic, and other complex environments.
• Develop data‑driven models from experimental results to answer scientific questions, and collaborate with engineers to compare experimental data with modern computational models.
• Publish research in peer‑reviewed scientific journals.
• Present research to team members and the broader scientific community.

Skills

Scientific writing

Presentation skills

Data-driven modeling

Education

PhD in Aerospace Engineering or Mechanical Engineering

Tools

DIH (digital in-line holography)

OES (optical emission spectroscopy)

Rayleigh scattering

PLIF (planar laser-induced fluorescence)

Job description

Sandia National Laboratories seeks a Postdoctoral Appointee to conduct basic and applied research on thermal and fluid phenomena related to national security. You will work in the Experimental Thermal and Fluid Sciences Department on multiphase flow, thermal transport, and light‑matter interactions using advanced facilities.

You will develop experiments, test hypotheses, and publish results in peer‑reviewed journals while collaborating with staff engineers and test technologists.