R&D Staff, Advance Grid Power Electronics Systems

Requisition Id 13390 

Overview:

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, with an extraordinary 80-year history of solving the nation’s biggest problems. We have a dedicated and creative staff of over 6,200 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. Come join us as we solve the nation's biggest challenges!

Purpose:

The Grid Systems Architecture (GSA) Group at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is actively seeking applicants for a full-time staff position to conduct research on futuristic distribution systems with significant power electronic system integrations.  The successful candidates should be capable of developing innovative solutions for futuristic power electronic grid converters and controls and validating them through hardware in loop (HIL) platforms or experimental prototypes. For this, the candidate is expected to have a good understanding of the requirements of power electronic systems from components to systems, embedded controllers, and communication interfaces for grid applications. Experience in developing controls, integrating communications, and writing code is expected.

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 well versed in distribution systems analysis, power converter topologies and associated controls, and system architectures with hierarchical controls.
• Experience with embedded platforms for controller development and communication interface development and testing. A good understanding of the communication requirements for grid applications is necessary.
• Be familiar with the standards and compliance corresponding to power grid such as IEEE 519, 1547, 2030.
• Network and develop collaborative R&D with other groups and divisions internally and with DOE, the industry, and the utilities.
• Prepare new proposals to the internal and external funding agencies.
• 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.

Qualifications:

• A Ph.D. in electrical engineering with a focus on distribution systems analysis or power electronics applications for the grid
• Experience related to modeling distribution systems in software such as OpenDSS or GridlabD
• Experience with power electronic modeling and simulation platforms including MATLAB/Simulink.
• Experience in coding platforms such as Python, C, and C++.
• Experience in hardware in loop platforms like OPAL-RT/Typhoon-HIL.
• Good oral and written communication skills to make presentations to sponsors and others and to prepare reports, proposals, and publications/journal articles.
• Strong interpersonal skills to support team building and leadership.
• A publication history in prestigious international conferences and journals.
• Demonstrated publication record of scientific results in either peer-reviewed journals, or presentations at national meetings, are expected.
• Experience in leading projects or test platform development is preferred.
• A strong commitment to scientific integrity is an important requirement.

Special Requirements: 

• Applicants should have at least five years of work experience.
• Some travel will be required for this position.
• No clearance is required.

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.