Job Description

Where You Will Work:

Located in Boulder, Colorado, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is a federally funded research and development center devoted to service, research and education in the atmospheric and related sciences. NCAR's mission is to understand the behavior of the atmosphere and related Earth and Geospace systems; to support, enhance, and extend the capabilities of the university community and the broader scientific community, nationally and internationally; and to foster the transfer of knowledge and technology for the betterment of life on Earth.

As one of the seven main NCAR divisions, it is the mission of the High Altitude Observatory (HAO) to understand the behavior of the Sun and its impact on the Earth, to support, enhance, and extend the capabilities of the university community and the broader scientific community, nationally and internationally, and to foster the transfer of knowledge and technology. Topics of interest include the lower solar atmosphere, the corona and heliosphere, and the terrestrial ionosphere and magnetosphere regions. HAO also operates the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory on the island of Hawaii.

As part of a small team of HAO scientists and engineers, you will conceive, design, build, test, deliver and support instruments for terrestrial observatories, stratospheric ballooning payloads and CubeSat observations of solar and Earth’s upper atmospheric phenomena.  Instruments include but are not limited to telescopes, coronagraphs, spectrographs, polarimeters, Lyot filters, Fabry-Perot interferometers, high altitude ballooning systems and CubeSats, and range in aperture size from 1 to 60 inches. The instruments are typically used for the diagnostics of plasmas and magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere, the measurement of the polarized brightness of the solar white light corona, and various magnetospheric and thermospheric measurements.  

What You Will Do:

Perform instrumentation engineering design and development in support of a broad range of solar and upper atmosphere research campaigns. Engineering work will be of a cross-discipline nature covering electrical and software, with the ultimate goal of producing functional research instruments.

As part of a small team of scientists and engineers, design, build, test, deliver and support instruments for ground, balloon, and space-based observation of earth’s upper atmospheric and solar phenomena. Instruments include but are not limited to spectro-polarimeters, coronagraphs, polarimeters, Fabry-Perot Interferometers, photometers, telescopes, spectrographs, CubeSats, and high altitude balloon equipment, and range in aperture size from 0.2 to 1.5m.

The instruments are typically used for the measurement of magnetic fields in the solar corona, measurement of the polarized brightness of the solar white light corona, measurement of emission lines from the solar chromosphere and prominences, magnetospheric and thermospheric measurements. 

Responsibilities:

Assembly and Integration

Work with engineers and technicians directly and participate in hands-on instrumentation fabrication, assembly, testing, deployment, operations, and maintenance

Integrate motors, encoders and limit switches with servo drive amplifiers

Write software for synchronized instrument control of cameras, opto-mechanical stages and thermal control systems

Fabricate custom cables and perform point to point chassis wiring

Detailed Instrumental Engineering Design (Electrical Focus)

Create detailed electrical interconnect designs for power, signal, and feedback systems

Analyze power budgets and electrical power transmission with attention to shielding, grounding strategies, and cable construction details

Analyze timing and synchronization requirements for instrument control signals and coordinated mechanism motion

 Detailed Instrumental Engineering (Software Development for Instrument Control)

Work with other engineers and scientists to design software control algorithms and graphical user interfaces

Implement software designs and specifications for instrument control programs

Implement hardware control using interfaces including but not limited to SPI, RS-422, I2C. 

Design and implement PLC control systems (e.g. Beckhoff)

Test Engineering

Develop and document detailed electronic and software test plans and procedures based on engineering specifications and requirements verification

Develop specific test methods for testing instrument electronic and software systems

Perform electronic and software testing

Develop and conduct tests for optical systems including alignments, image acquisition and camera focal plane characterization

Write test reports to document instrument performance

Instrumental Systems Engineering

As a member of a team, works with scientists, engineers, project managers, customers, vendors, end users, and other stakeholders to identify, develop, and translate science instrumentation goals and requirements into electrical system requirements and specifications

Create top level instrument electrical design concepts and architectures, perform trade studies, and optimize the designs to meet goals and requirements

Develop software interfaces for instrumented hardware systems. Create top level software approaches for instrument control systems

Support and participate in design reviews

Create design review documentation

What You Need:

Education and Years of Experience:

Required:  Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering or physics and 1+ year of engineering experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Professional internships or participation in cooperative education programs may be considered relevant engineering experience.

Desired: Experience in an R&D environment and/or experience with scientific instrumentation. 

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

Required:

Ability to work as an effective member of a team of scientists and engineers.

Ability to apply engineering concepts, theories and principles to complete system designs.

Strong technical ability to articulate problems and formulate alternative solutions to engineering problems.

A good understanding of current engineering technologies

Good written and oral communication skills

Willingness and ability to travel up to approximately 30 days per year in support of field projects.

Experience in programming for hardware control

Experience in conceiving and developing analog circuits

Experience in printed circuit board design, fabrication, and test

 Desired:

Basic knowledge of design and testing for systems that integrate into larger systems.

Experience using Altium Design Software

Experience programming in C or LabVIEW

Experience in soldering and cable assembly

Other Requirements:

Ability to work at 11,000 feet elevation.

Interacts with other companies and research organizations. This person will be working with scientists and engineers from various research organizations outside NCAR to resolve system design questions.

Applicant Notes:

A pre-employment screening is conducted in conjunction with an offer for employment. This screening may involve verifying or reviewing any of the following relevant information: restricted parties screening, employment verification, performance records of internal candidates, education verification, reference checks, verification of professional licenses, certifications, and Motor Vehicle Records.  UCAR complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

A cover letter is required for this position.

An Inclusion Statement will be required for all applicants applying to this position. This statement should address past efforts, as well as future vision and plans to advocate for and advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in the organization and/or field of work.

For more information about our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, here is the link to the Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategic Plan and to the ODEI landing page.