Senior Research Scientist for Industrial Process Heating

Requisition Id 14395

Overview :

As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an impressive 80-year legacy of addressing the nation’s most pressing challenges. Our team is made up of over 7,000 dedicated and innovative individuals! Our goal is to create an environment where a variety of perspectives and backgrounds are valued, ensuring ORNL is known as a top choice for employment. These principles are essential for supporting our broader mission to drive scientific breakthroughs and translate them into solutions for energy, environmental, and security challenges facing the nation.

Purpose :

Iron and steel, cement, food and beverage, chemicals, and petroleum refining are manufacturing sectors critical to U.S. economic security and public health. Large production volumes, coupled with high energy intensity, result in these industries accounting for over half of the U.S. industrial sector energy use and related CO2 emissions. Due to the large energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from these industries, they are referred to as “energy- and emissions-intensive industries”. Process heating is the dominant use of energy for these applications and the high variability in thermal efficiency (typically ranging from 15% - 85%) presents opportunities for approaches that provide more targeted delivery of heat to process materials through electrified means. Similar and additional advantages of more precise and controlled thermal processing apply to emerging advanced manufacturing processes with benefits including improved mechanical properties, reduced residual stresses, and greater product yield.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is seeking an experienced research and development leader in the area of electrification and use of alternative fuels for industrial process heating.

The position will be in the Manufacturing Sciences Division, but the candidate will be expected to collaborate across ORNL with a diverse array of scientists. In this role, the successful candidate will build and execute research programs that leverage core science strengths at ORNL to address challenges for manufacturing processes. In addition, the candidate will be expected to collaborate closely with industry partners to implement the resulting gained knowledge and advanced technologies at U.S. manufacturing facilities to achieve real-world energy and emissions reductions.

Since a key challenge associated with energy and emission-intensive industrial process heating is scaling research approaches, candidates with experience translating research outcomes to tangible improvements at industrial scales are of interest. Overall, multiple technologies and strategies will be needed to address the challenges with decarbonizing the industrial sector, and ORNL encourages candidates to apply that have experience in one or more of the following areas : (1) industrial process research and development, (2) processing heating technologies and thermal engineering, (3) electrification of process heating, (4) energy efficiency for industrial processes, (5) low-carbon feedstocks and fuels, and (6) scale up of research concepts to commercial scales.

Major Duties / Responsibilities :

• Execute research programs in manufacturing science
• Secure research funding through proposals and program development
• Coach and mentor staff with diverse backgrounds and experience levels
• Publish results in peer-reviewed journals
• Represent ORNL and research program at technical conferences, project reviews, and workshops
• Serve as technical liaison to sponsors, industry stakeholders, and technical teams representing government-industry partnerships
• Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Promote equal opportunity by fostering a respectful workplace – in how we treat one another, work together, and measure success.

Basic Qualifications :

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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.

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.

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