What Your Job Will Be Like

We are seeking a Member of Staff

We have two teams that are seeking a member of staff to develop and produce state-of-the-art methods for solving computational mechanics optimization problems in several areas. This includes inverse problems, Optimal Experimental Design (OED), and computational design with topology and shape optimization. Work requires being located (or relocating) near Albuquerque, New Mexico (or Livermore CA) such that one could report to work at Sandia National Labs as needed for team activities as needed.

Depending on team and focus, on any given day, you may be called on to:

Develop fundamental algorithm research on inverse methods, optimal design of experiments, shape and topology optimization oriented towards C++ implementation in a massively parallel computing environment.

• Team across computational and experimental groups at Sandia to optimize design and testing workflows, fuse test data and simulations for parameter estimation, computational non-destructive evaluation, and design of experiments.
• Implement research ideas in a massively parallel C++ computing environment.
• Integrate AI/ML strategies with optimization-based solutions for design and inverse problems.
• Work well with a team of people focused in this area of research.
• Publish research in leading technical journals and present work at premier conferences and workshops.

The selected applicant can work a combination of onsite and offsite work. The selected applicant must live within a reasonable distance for commuting to the assigned work location when necessary.

Salary Range

$138,600 - $235,700

*Salary range is estimated, and actual salary will be determined after consideration of the selected candidate's experience and qualifications, and application of any approved geographic salary differential.

Qualifications We Require

• A Bachelor's degree in a relevant discipline and five (5) years of directly relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of directly relevant education and engineering or scientific experience that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and ability to perform independent research and development such as:
  • Experience with fields of optimization.
  • Experience with computational mechanics concepts and application.
  • Experience with scientific programming including some exposure to and C++ and scripting language
• Ability to acquire a DOE Q-level security clearance

Qualifications We Desire

The ideal R&D S&E Computer Science Engineer candidate for Sandia National Laboratories will in addition possess the following:

• Graduate degree in Computer Science or a highly related field where an independent research project was a graduation requirement (e.g., independent project, thesis, or dissertation).
• Demonstrated software development skills and familiarity with modern software development practices and tools (e.g., Agile).
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams, and a passion to improve and expand technical skills.

Also, for this posting we are seeking individuals with the following experience:

• PhD in Computer Science, Engineering or related STEM field using computer science, or Masters equivalent experience.Good communication, presentation, and technical writing skills
• Strong background in applied mathematics, mechanics, and software development
• Depth and breadth in several aspects of computational mechanics (e.g., equations solvers, element formulations, multi-scale approaches, data structures, coupled physics)
• Experience with adjoint-based optimization techniques and application of these methods for solving complex design and inverse problems
• Experience with software design/architecture/testing skills
• Experience with software quality and testing practices
• Experience with high performance and parallel computation concepts
• Experience developing and creating tests for large-scale software applications
• Experience teaming with multiple software teams and users of software
• Experience with parallel computing environments with MPI, threading, GPU
• Agile software development experience, especially in a team room environment
• Experience with V&V and credibility concepts and practice
• Experience with test driven development
• Proven research capability and large scientific software projects
• Experience with the finite element method and geometric representations
• Template meta programming experience
• Experience with Cubit®, Plato, Sierra Inverse Optimization tools, Sierra Mechanics

About Our Team

Simulation Modeling Sciences department 1449 enables credible design and analysis involving computational simulation and finite element method approaches for meshing, topology optimization, inverse optimization, metamaterials, and high performance computing I/O. We are part of Sandia's CompSim activity, teaming with others developing Solid Mechanics, Structural Dynamics, Thermal Fluids, V&V, uncertainty quantification, workflow, analyst interfaces, as well as DevOps support. Our primary customer is the Advanced Scientific Computing (ASC) program, with many other customers leveraging this work. Users rely upon these codes for the Sandia's Nuclear Deterrence mission, various other missions of the Laboratory, DoD, and industry partners. We team with other research programs at Sandia and sponsor research and development of critical modeling science applications within Sandia and at partner university programs. We help coordinate and engage the International Meshing Roundtable and Topology Optimization Roundtable.

Our software tools, including the following, are intended to be used on high performance next generation computing platforms.

Plato provides intelligent design to the Additive Manufacturing (AM) process. Plato inverts traditional design approach by creating a computer-optimized structure rather than validating a conceptual CAD-CAM design, optimizing structures and materials over a wide range of parameters and environments.

FuSED (Fusion of Simulation, Experiments, and Data) tools work at the nexus of experimental measurement, test, and design, enabling inverse reconstruction of unknown quantities such as sources and material properties, as well as optimal design of experiments. FuSED tools help to design experiments to gather data and infer information through the solution of inverse problems that is not directly observable, thus enabling designs that matches a desired system behavior.

FAST (Future Accelerated Simulation Tools) team focuses on model development for our CompSim codes including the Cubit® tool known for its hexahedral meshing, Morph for tetrahedral meshing, which enable many types of Finite Element Method (FEM) discretization for computational simulation by providing meshing of CAD geometries, now including many advancements in tetrahedral meshing. Scalable Geometric Modeler (SGM), a tool intended to create and explore geometries and translate geometric representation between computer aided design and facets or finite elements. Our Geometry and Meshing team works at the nexus of engineering, mathematics, physics, numerical methods, and software engineering on many leading-edge efforts.

Visualization & Analysis team provides development, support, and deployment of workhorse visualization tools such as Paraview and Ensight for ASC software users, while we perform R&D on newer tools such as Catalyst for in-situ visualization and Slycat for ensemble analysis and visualization.

Posting Duration

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of three (3) calendar days, including the 'posting date'. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.