Process and Dynamic Systems R&D Position at the National Energy
Technology Laboratory
 
The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is a science,
technology, and energy laboratory owned and operated by the U.S.
Department of Energy.  NETL’s mission is to implement national research,
development, and demonstration programs to advance science and
technology for a clean, secure energy future.
 
NETL is currently recruiting for a research engineer in the
Computational Science Division of NETL's Office of Research and
Development.  The function of this Division is to conceive, plan, manage
and conduct exploratory and applied research in the areas of process
systems engineering and computational science related to advanced energy
systems.  
 
The incumbent has responsibility for accelerating in-house research and
development on innovative models, methods, and tools for process systems
engineering across the fossil energy plant lifecycle including
innovation, design, operations, and management.  Specific areas of
interest include process synthesis, steady-state and dynamic simulation,
plant design and analysis, optimization and control, cost estimation,
and stochastic simulation for risk/uncertainty analysis.  As such, the
incumbent conceives, formulates, plans, and directs broad research in
these areas. The research conducted is aimed at the solution of complex
problems related to existing and future uses of fossil fuels to develop
novel methodologies, improve process efficiency, reduce costs, enhance
environmental quality, improve product quality, reduce waste, and
recycle valuable materials in the technology area of energy and
environmental technologies. Problems in this area are interdisciplinary
in nature and can be difficult to define; their successful resolution
typically requires a great deal of innovation and creativity on the part
of the incumbent. This requires the incumbent to be able to evaluate
research results and propose realistic hypotheses, based on his/her
strong research background.
 
The incumbent will be required to develop and apply steady-state
process simulation using such software as Aspen Plus® to evaluate and
optimize the performance of advanced fossil energy systems with and
without carbon capture and storage and water network management.  The
incumbent will also be required to develop and apply dynamic process
simulations to study power plant operations and control.  He/she will
also prepare reports and visualizations for oral presentation at
technical seminars, conferences, program reviews, etc.
 
To review all the qualification requirements and apply for the
position, all applicants must obtain a full copy of the vacancy
announcement from the NETL website:
http://www.netl.doe.gov/careers/2008/NETL-08-25a.pdf.  The closing
date is July 18, 2008.  The full vacancy announcement has the complete
description of the position, all qualification requirements, and
instructions for how to apply.  NETL is an equal opportunity employer.