Postdoctoral Fellow-Walker Department of Mechancial Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering Full-time

Postdoctoral Fellow-Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering

Hiring Department: Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering

Position Open To: All Applicants

Weekly Scheduled Hours: 40

FLSA Status: Exempt

Earliest Start Date: Immediately

Position Duration: Expected to Continue Until Apr 01, 2027

Location: UT MAIN CAMPUS

This Postdoctoral appointment is responsible for the development and maintenance of a digital twin of the University of Texas at Austin Nuclear Engineering Teaching Lab (NETL) TRIGA reactor. The position will support research activities through technical contributions to digital twin development and collaboration with Dr. Kevin Clarno and other faculty in the Nuclear and Radiation Engineering Program to advance research in nuclear reactor multiphysics, digital twin methods, and uncertainty quantification for high-performance computing platforms using VERA, MOOSE, and/or Shift. Additional duties include supervising students, preparing journal publications, and assisting with the development of research proposals. This position is renewable on an annual basis, contingent upon satisfactory performance, progress toward research goals, and continued funding.

The purpose of the Postdoctoral Fellow position under Dr. Kevin Clarno is to advance the development of a digital twin framework for the NETL TRIGA reactor and, in doing so, support the broader goals of the Texas Nuclear Digital Twin Program.

Responsibilities:

• Conducting independent research
• Mentoring students in the research group
• Publication of results in peer-reviewed journals
• Support to faculty on writing research grant proposals

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in nuclear engineering, computational science, artificial intelligence, data science, or related field that was completed within three years
• A track record of innovation in computational science and engineering, as demonstrated with a strong publication history.
• An ability to contribute to interdisciplinary research efforts in the areas of computational engineering, computational and applied mathematics, and/or uncertainty quantification.
• The ability to obtain source code access to export controlled nuclear software, including VERA.

Preferred Qualifications:

• The ideal candidate will have experience in methods and software development related to reactor physics, computational methods, machine learning, and data science.
• Proficiency in modern software development practices, GIT-based version control, high performance computing platforms, and object-oriented programming.
• Applicants are also encouraged, though not required, to provide links to any public code repositories to which they have made major contributions and to clearly identify the portions of the codebase for which they were primarily responsible.

Salary Range: 80,000 + depending on qualifications

Working Conditions:

• May work in standard office conditions
• May require repetitive use of keyboard at a workstation
• May require use of manual dexterity
• May work around chemicals
• May work around electrical and mechanical hazards
• Lifting and moving

Required Materials:

• Resume/CV
• Letter of interest
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor