Are you interested in joining the worldâ™s brightest talent in solving some of the worldâ™s grandest scientific challenges of the 21st century? Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is doing just that! Whether it be through science, engineering, technology or professional services, every team member has an opportunity to make their mark on our world. PPPL aims to attract and support people with a rich variety of backgrounds, interests, experiences, and cultural viewpoints. We are committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion and believe that each member of our team contributes to our scientific mission in their own unique way. Come join us!

The Engineering Directorate at PPPL is a multidisciplinary team focused on developing the engineering designs for and advancing the state-of-the-art for magnetic confinement plasma physics research devices around the world. We specialize in diagnostics, high-field magnets, power electronics, heating sources, and plasma facing components for nuclear fusion experiments at PPPL and collaborator facilities world-wide. Mechanical (solid mechanics and fluid dynamics), electromagnetic, thermal, material, and radiation effects and engineering challenges are routinely encountered simultaneously in PPPL engineering projects. PPPL engineers develop novel solutions to the engineering challenges of fusion and plasma physics and collaborate with the Research and Computation teams to develop new research directions, core capabilities, and experimental devices. The complex coupled-physics nature of fusion devices presents truly unique challenges to the design and optimization of these devices. The ability to fully model and simulate these devices and components; from the physics of the confined plasma, through the electromagnetic and elemental particle forces impingement on structure and the structural response â“ over the full lifetime of the device; design, manufacture, operations, decommissioning, would be a paradigm changing innovation. PPPL is actively working to establish international leadership in this Virtual Engineering arena.

The Head, Virtual Engineering will provide technical and thought leadership in the establishment, deployment, and utilization of a comprehensive virtual/digital engineering enterprise using high performance computing (HPC) capability at PPPL to meet the above goals. Responsibilities will include setting the technical direction and implementation of our integrated fusion energy research program and virtual engineering modeling and simulation (M&S) environment. This will necessitate the initiation and maintenance of extensive contacts with key engineers and scientists in other areas of the Laboratory and in other fusion organizations both in the US and internationally. The successful candidate will bring creativity, foresight, and mature professional judgment in anticipating and solving unprecedented problems, in determining project objectives and requirements, and in developing standards and guides for diverse engineering, computing, and scientific activities. This position reports to the PPPL Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for Engineering, who will provide support and general administrative direction for the virtual engineering program objectives, schedules, and budgets.

• Establish and solicit long term funding for a comprehensive research program in Virtual Engineering in collaboration with the Physics and Computational Science groups at PPPL.
• Apply extensive and diversified knowledge of principles and practices in the implementation and integration of disparate modeling and simulation tools in an HPC environment.
• Develop system level requirements for the implementation of a virtual engineering enterprise using Lab developed and commercial tools as the backbone and generate relevant, measurable, achievable key performance indicators. These requirements include the integration and optimization of the tool suite with computing and storage assets including objective scope of capability growth overtime.
• Orchestrate workflows and work with data APIs to allow the seamless interaction of models and tools.
• Support the development of the virtual engineering management, governance, consistency to architectural procedures, standards, patterns, processes, and tools.
• Initiate and maintain extensive contact with the Information Technology department and the Computational Science Directorate to effectively develop necessary virtual engineering capabilities.
• Implement innovative and creative solutions to integrate computer models and simulations that effectively capture system effects while maintaining awareness of the virtual/digital engineering landscape.
• Engage directly with stakeholders and technology areas to drive understanding of the strategy for virtual engineering and ensure all initiatives align to the strategy.
• Develop short-term and long-term system design and implementation strategies including cost estimates.
• Prepare Project Execution Plans, including cost, scope, and schedule, and manage work to the plan.
• Reprioritize activities within the scope of work being managed based on resources and laboratory research priorities.
• Manage virtual engineering hardware and software lifecycle inventory and maintenance on the assets.
• Supervise the professionals and technicians who assist them, estimate personnel needs, and schedule and assign work to meet completion deadlines on assigned projects.
• Report on virtual engineering status and plans including but not limited to capturing lessons learned, developing policies, guides, procedures, and reports, and preparing and giving presentations.
• Develop and deliver coursework in Virtual Engineering to support a Masterâ™s in Engineering (Fusion Engineering focus) curriculum being developed in collaboration Princeton University.

Education and Experience:

• Ph.D. in Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, or a related field.
• Professional experience, at least 10 years (inclusive of post-BS academic experience), preferably in a scientific or R&D environment.
• A proven track record of leading research and development activities in multi-physics engineering analysis for complex systems.
• Demonstrated engineering or scientific leadership experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Design, precedents, principles, and best practices related to implementation of large-scale, complex modeling & simulation (Linux and Windows) software development environments.
• Possess a high degree of ingenuity, creativity, and resourcefulness and ability to work in fast paced, team environment, build consensus among peers, effective relationships, effectively handle change, identify issues, and work with stakeholders to develop solutions.
• Technical competence in engineering (advanced thermal, electro-magnetic and mechanical modeling and analysis (both static and transient events) and multi-physics domain software integration and management.
• Technical understanding if digital engineering, digital twins, computational sciences, data visualization, data migration, data modeling, and business process modelling.
• Strong technical writing skills and oral skills to eectively communicate with a diverse group of researchers, engineers, technicians, and external stakeholders.
• Technical competence in fusion energy, high-vacuum, high heat-flux, and in-vacuum motion systems, is desired.
  
  
  This will be an onsite position

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About Princeton University

Princeton University is a vibrant community of scholarship and learning that stands in the nation's service and in the service of all nations. Chartered in 1746, Princeton is the fourth-oldest college in the United States. Princeton is an independent, coeducational, nondenominational institution that provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and engineering.As a world-renowned research university, Princeton seeks to achieve the highest levels of distinction in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and understanding. At the same time, Princeton is distinctive among research universities in its commitment to undergraduate teaching.Today, more than 1,100 faculty members instruct approximately 5,200 undergraduate students and 2,600 graduate students. The University's generous financial aid program ensures that talented students from all economic backgrounds can afford a Princeton education.

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