Materials Research and Development Engineer

• Support the research, design, development, and fabrication of advanced polymer and composite structures for defense and industrial applications

• Perform and support fabrication, characterization, testing, and evaluation activities while ensuring technical quality and accuracy

• Apply sound engineering judgment, critical thinking, and attention to detail to solve technical challenges and support project objectives

• Contribute to white papers, technical proposals, project plans, customer meetings, and other business development initiatives

• Lead and manage technical tasks, proposals, and research projects while serving as a Task Lead or Principal Investigator, as appropriate

• Present technical findings, project updates, and recommendations to sponsors, customers, and other stakeholders

• Develop and maintain test plans, procedures, bills of materials, technical reports, presentations, and other formal project documentation

• Execute assigned work in accordance with written and verbal instructions while proactively identifying and communicating technical issues and risks

• Provide regular project status updates and technical progress reports to Principal Investigators, project leadership, and engineering staff

• Collaborate effectively within multidisciplinary teams to achieve project goals and technical milestones

• Demonstrate initiative by seeking guidance, sharing knowledge, and engaging with supervisors and team members to ensure project success

• Maintain a safe, organized, and compliant laboratory environment while adhering to established safety procedures and best practice

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  Identify technical risks and develop mitigation strategies to improve program execution, system performance, reliability, maintainability, and mission effectiveness

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  Initiate and contribute to business development activities through technical concept development, customer engagement, proposal preparation, Independent Research and Development (IRAD) initiatives, and strategic technology planning

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  Mentor and provide technical leadership to junior engineers, engineering technologists, engineering support personnel, interns, and students

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  Maintain technical expertise through continued professional development, participation in technical working groups, awareness of emerging technologies, and engagement with the defense research community

• Polymer structure-property relationships and the ability to produce new thermoset materials with specific properties

• Thermoset elastomer development

• Process development of prototype structures

• Past success utilizing a wide range of materials characterization techniques including mechanical property testing, dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and chemical analysis

• Understanding of relationships between composition, microstructure, processing, and material properties

• Polymer processing and characterization methods

• Testing and characterization methods for composite materials

• Project engineering or management

• Past success providing ideas in written form for clear comprehension

• Successful collaborations in multi-disciplinary, team-oriented cultures

• Coatings, adhesives, and fiber-reinforced composites

• Leading projects and working with customers/sponsors

• Developing new proposals and projects

• Past success working on defense projects

• Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Secret level or higher and may be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility, if required

Your working location will be fully on-site located in State College, PA. This role requires periodic travel to remote locations.

ARL’s purpose is to research and develop innovative solutions to challenging scientific, engineering, and technology problems in support of the Navy, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Intel Community (IC). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION on ARL, visit our website at www.arl.psu.edu.

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Penn State is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If you are unable to use our online application process due to an impairment or disability, please contact 814-865-1473.

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