Senior Mechanical Design Engineer — Precision Instrumentation

Alicat Scientific; Tucson (AZ); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Alicat Scientific in Tucson, AZ seeks a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer to own significant portions of mechanical hardware for high-precision flow and pressure instrumentation. You will take designs from concept through production release, balancing detailed drawings with physics-based analysis.

The role requires deep understanding of mechanical fundamentals, GD&T, and cross-functional collaboration with product, electrical, and firmware teams.

Qualifications

• 6+ years designing precision mechanical, fluidic, or electromechanical products through production.
• Fundamentals across mechanics of materials, dynamics, heat transfer, and fluid mechanics.
• Experience with COMSOL Multiphysics and ANSYS (Mechanical/Fluent/Maxwell).
• Depth in at least two of structural mechanics, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, electromagnetics.
• 3D CAD and production drawing skills with GD&T and tolerance stack-up analysis.
• Design-for-manufacturing across processes and direct supplier work.
• Experimental design and testing with correlation of simulation results to measured data.
• BS in Mechanical Engineering; MS a plus.
• Experience with solenoid or proportional valve electromagnetic actuators.
• Experience with gas flow, laminar flow elements, or precision flow metrology.
• Programming with Python, MATLAB/Simulink, or LabVIEW.

Responsibilities

• Develop new flow measurement and control products from concept through production release.
• Apply first-principles engineering across statics, dynamics, and thermal considerations.
• Create production-quality 3D models and drawings with GD&T.
• Perform worst-case and statistical tolerance stack-up analyses.
• Select materials and finishes for precision, corrosion resistance, and stability.
• Design for manufacture across molding, machining, welding, and extrusion; work with suppliers.
• Perform structural and thermal analysis on components and assemblies.
• Model solenoid actuators and magnetic systems; assess dynamic response.
• Use CFD to analyze gas and liquid flow; build coupled or decoupled analyses.
• Plan and execute design verification, validation, and reliability testing.

Skills

3D CAD

GD&T

Tolerance analysis

FEM analysis

Root cause analysis

Prototype iteration

Cross-functional teamwork

Design for manufacturing

Python scripting

Finite element analysis

Education

BS in Mechanical Engineering

MS in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

SolidWorks

COMSOL Multiphysics

ANSYS (Mechanical)

MATLAB/Simulink

LabVIEW

Job description

Alicat Scientific in Tucson, AZ seeks a Senior Mechanical Design Engineer to own significant portions of mechanical hardware for high-precision flow and pressure instrumentation. You will take designs from concept through production release, balancing detailed drawings with physics-based analysis.

The role requires deep understanding of mechanical fundamentals, GD&T, and cross-functional collaboration with product, electrical, and firmware teams.