Wind Tunnel Staff Engineer: Test Ops & Instrumentation

University of Washington Medical Center; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 56,000 - 93,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratory is seeking a research scientist/engineer 1 to support wind tunnel operations and instrumentation development. The role focuses on data acquisition, software integration, and collaborative problem solving with wind tunnel staff and clients.

The successful candidate will maintain calibration, process data, and train student crew while ensuring safety, quality, and ITAR compliance across systems and experiments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Aeronautical/Mechanical Engineering or related field.
• One year of experience with aerodynamics and/or wind tunnel testing.
• Equivalent education/experience may substitute for minimum qualifications.

Responsibilities

• Support wind tunnel test operations for internal and external client tests.
• Prepare instrumentation, mechanical design, or test plans for client tests.
• Process and reduce experimental data with quality control.
• Provide professional customer service and write reports for wind tunnel clients.
• Train and supervise student crew handling wind tunnel models.
• Monitor data quality during testing and post-processing; apply data correction methods.
• Develop, maintain, and improve wind tunnel acquisition systems including hardware DAQ and software in MATLAB, Python, C++, and Visual Basic.
• Coordinate with IT to manage local networks and data back-ups.

Skills

MATLAB

Python

C++

Visual Basic

Interpersonal communication

Problem solving

Teamwork

Education

Bachelors degree in Aeronautical/Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Solidworks

NX

CATIA

LabVIEW

National Instruments

Job description

University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratory is seeking a research scientist/engineer 1 to support wind tunnel operations and instrumentation development. The role focuses on data acquisition, software integration, and collaborative problem solving with wind tunnel staff and clients.

The successful candidate will maintain calibration, process data, and train student crew while ensuring safety, quality, and ITAR compliance across systems and experiments.