Requisition Id 11230 

Overview: 

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is the largest US Department of Energy (DOE) science and energy laboratory, conducting basic and applied research to deliver transformative solutions to compelling problems in energy and security. As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an extraordinary 80-year history of solving the nation’s biggest problems. With a dedicated and creative staff of over 6,000 people, ORNL’s decadal vision for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is to cultivate an environment and practices that foster diversity in ideas and in the people across the organization, as well as to ensure ORNL is recognized as a workplace of choice. These elements are critical for enabling the execution of ORNL’s broader mission to accelerate scientific discoveries and their translation into energy, environment, and security solutions for the nation. 

The Vehicle Power Electronics Research Group in Buildings and Transportation Science Division at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is seeking applicants for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position to conduct research on wide bandgap based advanced power electronics hardware and control in the areas of automotive power electronics including drive inverter, wireless and plug-in chargers, on-board and off-board chargers, and integrated charger & drive system power electronics.

The successful candidate will be capable of performing modeling, simulating, designing, and optimizing converters and hardware developments of power electronics systems, resonant circuits, inverters, rectifiers for different EV charging systems and propose innovative topologies and approaches to address the existing challenges in EV technologies.

Major Duties/Responsibilities: 

• Conduct R&D projects and help the expansion of R&D to take advantage of our multidisciplinary capabilities, multimodal strengths, and unique tools and capabilities.
• Be familiar with state of the art in EV traction drive inverters, charging systems, resonant circuits, and other power electronics technologies. Be well versed in various modeling and simulation programs, power electronic converter optimizations, hardware development and digital controllers for EV charging systems.
• Should be familiar with the microcontrollers and digital signal processors for the control and operation of power electronic converters.
• Perform design, development, analysis, optimization, modeling, simulation, and testing of power electronics systems, subsystems, and components.
• Validate theoretical designs through prototype building and testing evaluation.
• Network and develop collaborative R&D with other groups and divisions internally and within DOE, and the industry including the automotive OEMs and tier-1 manufacturers.
• Prepare new proposals to the internal and external funding agencies.
• Preparing and presenting research results to sponsors, peer reviewers, industry partners and others and at technical meetings such as IEEE and SAE sponsored conferences.
• Some travel will be required for this position.
• Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility by fostering a respectful workplace – in how we treat one another, work together, and measure success.

Basic Qualifications:

• A PhD in electrical engineering with focus on power electronics or a related field, completed within the last 5 years.
• Experience with various wide bandgap power semiconductor technologies, gate drive circuitries, magnetics, soft switching techniques, resonant circuits, and wide bandgap semiconductor-based power electronic hardware development.
• Demonstrated publication record of scientific results in either peer-reviewed journals, or presentations at national meetings.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with embedded control system hardware and software development.
• Knowledge on high-power resonant circuit design and simulation software tools.
• Prior experience in proposal development activities.
• Strong interpersonal skills to support team building and leadership.
• A strong commitment to scientific integrity.

Please submit three letters of reference when applying to this position. You can upload these directly to your application or have them sent to postdocrecruitment@ornl.gov with the position title and number referenced in the subject line.

Instructions to upload documents to your candidate profile:

• Login to your account via jobs.ornl.gov
• View Profile
• Under the My Documents section, select Add a Document

Applicants cannot have received their Ph.D. more than five years prior to the date of application and must complete all degree requirements before starting their appointment. The appointment length will be for up to 24 months with the potential for extension. Initial appointments and extensions are subject to performance and the availability of funding.

Moving can be overwhelming and expensive. UT-Battelle offers a generous relocation package to ease the transition process. Domestic and international relocation assistance is available for certain positions. If invited to interview, be sure to ask your Recruiter (Talent Acquisition Partner) for details.

Benefits at ORNL:  

ORNL offers competitive pay and benefits programs to attract and retain talented people. The laboratory offers many employee benefits, including medical and retirement plans and flexible work hours, to help you and your family live happy and healthy. Employee amenities such as on-site fitness, banking, and cafeteria facilities are also provided for convenience.

Other benefits include: Prescription Drug Plan, Dental Plan, Vision Plan, 401(k) Retirement Plan, Life Insurance, Pet Insurance, Generous Vacation and Holidays, Parental Leave, Legal Insurance with Identity Theft Protection, Employee Assistance Plan, Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, Wellness Programs, Educational Assistance, Relocation Assistance, and Employee Discounts.

This position will remain open for a minimum of 5 days after which it will close when a qualified candidate is identified and/or hired.

We accept Word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (unsecured .pdf), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and HTML (.htm, .html) up to 5MB in size. Resumes from third party vendors will not be accepted; these resumes will be deleted and the candidates submitted will not be considered for employment.

If you have trouble applying for a position, please email ORNLRecruiting@ornl.gov.

ORNL is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants, including individuals with disabilities and protected veterans, are encouraged to apply.  UT-Battelle is an E-Verify employer.

Nearest Major Market: Knoxville