Postdoctoral Fellow (PREP0004763)

Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Johns Hopkins University is seeking a PREP Research Associate for the National Institute of Standards and Technology program. The role involves conducting fire safety experiments on rechargeable batteries and analyzing the data collected.

The ideal candidate will have a doctoral degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Chemical Engineering, with expert experience in heat transfer and battery fire dynamics. Strong communication skills and familiarity with data acquisition systems are also essential.

Qualifications

• Doctoral degree must be obtained by start of appointment.
• Expertise in dynamics of fires from battery energy storage systems.
• Strong communication skills are required.

Responsibilities

• Conduct experiments to assess thermal runaway in rechargeable batteries.
• Analyze data from heat flux gauges and thermal imaging cameras.
• Present results at internal and external meetings.

Skills

Convective and radiative heat transfer

Heat release rate measurements with cone calorimeter

Computational fluid dynamics models

Data acquisition systems using National Instruments

Scripting languages (Python, Matlab)

Education

Doctoral degree in relevant engineering field

Job description

PREP Research Associate

Overview

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

Research Title: Characterization for rechargeable battery fires

U.S. Citizen Preferred

This work will involve conducting research at different scales to characterize the generation of fires from rechargeable batteries. The researcher will conduct large- and bench-scale fire experiments using characterization technologies, including heat flux gauges, radiometers, thermal imaging cameras, and thermocouples. The goal of these experiments is to determine appropriate methods to characterize the ignition, heat transfer, and heat release rate of rechargeable batteries. In doing so, this work will advance the metrology needed to assess the hazard presented by rechargeable battery fires.

Key Responsibilities

• Conducting experiments to assess the evolution of thermal runaway in a rechargeable battery and the resulting fire.
• Determining methods to collect, process, and analyze data generated from heat flux gauges, radiometers, thermal imaging cameras, and thermocouples.
• Assessing the uncertainty of measurements collected from experiments.
• Using modeling tools to simulate the heat transfer of a rechargeable battery as it transitions to thermal runaway.
• Presenting results at internal meetings and meetings with external stakeholders.
• Ensuring that results, protocols, software, and documentation have been archived and disseminated in archival journals.

Qualifications

• A doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or Fire Protection Engineering, or a closely related field, must be obtained by the start of the appointment, or a degree confirmation letter must state completion of requirements to receive the degree.
• Expert experience in convective and radiative heat transfer; heat release rate measurements using a cone calorimeter; and dynamics of fires generated from battery energy storage systems or electric vehicles.
• Familiarity with the use of computational fluid dynamics models (Fire Dynamics Simulator or FireFOAM).
• Demonstrated knowledge of data acquisition systems using National Instruments equipment.
• Common scripting languages (Python, Matlab).
• Ability to develop research plans and document research results in journals.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Johns Hopkins University is committed to equal opportunity for its faculty, staff, and students. To that end, the university does not discriminate on the basis of sex, gender, marital status, pregnancy, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status or other legally protected characteristics. The university is committed to providing qualified individuals access to all academic and employment programs, benefits and activities on the basis of demonstrated ability, performance and merit without regard to personal factors or demographic characteristics that are irrelevant to the program involved.