Researcher III – Mathematical Optimization for Energy Systems

National Laboratory of the Rockies; Golden (CO); On-site; USD 83,600 - 150,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match

Tuition reimbursement

Paid holidays and personal time off

Job summary

The National Laboratory of the Rockies is looking for a Researcher III specializing in Mathematical Optimization for Energy Systems in Golden, Colorado. This role emphasizes integrating AI techniques with classical optimization methods aimed at improving energy systems.

Qualified candidates should have a PhD, or a Master's with sufficient experience working on large-scale computing architectures. Exceptional interpersonal skills and a good understanding of optimization fundamentals are crucial.

Qualifications

• PhD or relevant Master's with 3+ years experience, or Bachelor's with 5+ years.
• Strong understanding of optimization fundamentals.
• Experience managing projects and demonstrating leadership in technical areas.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate on optimization research and algorithm performance.
• Develop new mathematical frameworks for optimization solutions.
• Identify AI/RL opportunities to enhance optimization.

Skills

Mathematical optimization

Python

Julia

Experience with optimization solvers

Familiarity with distributed computing

Education

PhD or Master's Degree

Bachelor's Degree with 5+ years experience

Tools

Pyomo

Gurobi

CPLEX

PyTorch

Job description

Researcher III – Mathematical Optimization for Energy Systems

Location: CO - Golden

Position Type: Regular

Hours per Week: 40

Job Summary

The Advanced Computing Solutions Group in the NLR Computational Science Center has an opening for a Computational Science Researcher, with an emphasis on mathematical optimization and its application to the design and control of energy systems. The successful candidate will have extensive experience with mathematical optimization formulations and algorithms and their application to physical systems. The role involves integrating AI techniques such as reinforcement learning with classical mathematical optimization approaches, working on large-scale parallel computing architectures.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with domain experts to identify where mathematical optimization constitutes a viable approach and maintain awareness of optimization-related research both at NLR and in the literature more generally.
• Adopt existing – or develop new – mathematical, computing, and simulation frameworks required to implement and evaluate the performance of optimization algorithms and solutions.
• Creatively identify new opportunities to leverage AI/RL to augment or enhance classical optimization algorithms and/or formulations.
• Author publications and contribute to proposals to sustain research directions.

Basic Qualifications

Relevant PhD. Or a relevant Master's Degree and 3 or more years of experience. Or a relevant Bachelor's Degree and 5 or more years of experience. Demonstrates complete understanding and wide application of scientific technical procedures, principles, theories and concepts in the field. General knowledge of other related disciplines. Demonstrates leadership in one or more areas of team, task or project lead responsibilities. Demonstrated experience in management of projects. Very good technical writing, interpersonal and communication skills.

• Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Good understanding of optimization fundamentals, both computational and mathematical.
• Experience programming in Python and/or Julia.
• Experience with Pyomo and/or JuMP.
• Experience with mathematical optimization solvers, e.g., CPLEX, Gurobi, Xpress, Cbc, Ipopt, and their capabilities.
• Familiarity with distributed computing frameworks such as MPI and OpenMP.
• Experience with scalable machine learning frameworks, e.g., PyTorch.
• Experience building foundation models for AC-OPF on transmission grids.
• Experience with using machine learning and signal processing techniques for fault detection on microgrids.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working with diverse, inclusive, and cross-disciplinary research teams.
• Experience working on HPC systems.

Annual Salary Range

Researcher III – $83,600 – $150,500

Benefits Summary

Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; short- and long-term disability insurance; pension benefits; 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match; life and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance; personal time off (PTO) and sick leave; paid holidays; and tuition reimbursement. Employees may be eligible for, but are not guaranteed, performance-, merit-, and achievement-based awards that include a monetary component. Some positions may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement. Limited-term positions are not eligible for long-term disability or tuition reimbursement.

Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic partner status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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