Senior R&D Engineer, Turbomachinery

Major Duties & Responsibilities:

• Lead R&D projects (NTI/NPI) involving fluid machines such as pressure exchangers, compressors, centrifugal and reciprocating pumps, turbines, turbochargers etc.
• Lead / participate in the entire development cycle of a fluid machine including 1-D sizing (mechanical & hydraulic), engineering analyses, detailed design & layout prep, design/selection of rotor-bearing systems, seals & secondary flow paths, validation test rig development, experimental validation & release to manufacturing.
• Design fluid machinery components and assemblies and draw detailed engineering drawings with appropriate GD&T while optimizing for manufacturability & quality.
• Leverage commercial FEA solvers such as ANSYS to evaluate mechanical integrity, design life and robustness of components and assemblies over the full range of operating conditions.
• Design prototype and component validation test rigs, integrate sensors, controls, data acquisition hardware/software (LabVIEW based) to obtain high quality data, perform validation testing in the lab and support pilot/beta testing at remote field sites.
• Design experiments and test setups to validate the design by simulating the operational environment in the lab with appropriate instrumentation, controls & data acquisition systems.
• Develop validation test plans and work closely with testing team to confirm and validate model predictions. Use commercial (e.g. Matlab) and open-source (e.g. Python) software to process test data and draw physics based insights and inputs for models & optimization.
• Work closely with the Product Engineering, Testing, Project Management Office, Manufacturing, Quality Control & Business Units to successfully deliver on NPI/NTI projects.
• Follow ERI’s internal technology and development processes (PDLCM/RDF), manage projects using project management principles and drive rigorous design reviews / documentation at each phase.
• Contribute to development of validated design tools and design practices.
• Other duties & projects as assigned.

Skills & Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with 7+ years of relevant industry experience or Master’s degree with 5+ years of experience desired.
• Proficiency in commercial CAD packages such as SolidWorks required.
• Expertise in commercial FEA solvers such as ANSYS Workbench required.
• Hands on experience with assembly, testing and experimentation, sensors/transducers (to measure pressure, temperature, flow rate, vibration, position, pressure pulsations, noise etc.), controls/data acquisition, data collection languages (e.g. LabVIEW) is required.
• Experience with mechanical design, testing and selection of rotodynamic & reciprocating fluid machines such as compressors, pumps, turbines, turbochargers, pressure exchangers etc., is highly desirable.
• Experience with mechanical design, testing and selection of hydrostatic and hydrodynamic bearings, static and dynamic seals & supporting equipment is highly desirable.
• Expertise in design of high pressure mechanical systems, developing manufacturing drawings using DFM/DFA principles, GD&T, stack-up analysis, RCA, DFMEA, HAZOP drawing up inspection & quality control plans highly desirable.
• Experience with thermodynamic cycle modeling, sizing of heat exchangers, compressors and HVACR equipment a plus.
• Must possess a demonstrated ability to work/lead in a team environment, under pressure, manage multiple tasks, and be goal oriented.
• Ability to oversee and execute on assigned R&D projects from initial concept development to lab validation and final commissioning in a highly analytical, detailed and precise manner.
• Familiarity with engineering standards such as ASME BPVC / API / ANSI / NFPA / UL / PED etc.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Position requires up to 10% domestic and international travel.