Junior Research Officer, High Temperature Materials

Location: Ottawa, ON, CA

Junior Research Officer, High Temperature Materials

Priority will be given to the following designated employment equity groups: Indigenous Peoples* (First Nations, Inuit and Métis), persons with disabilities and racialized persons*.

* The Employment Equity Act, which is under review, uses the terminology Aboriginal peoples and visible minorities.

Candidates are asked to self-declare when applying to this hiring process.

City: Ottawa

Organizational Unit: Aerospace

Classification: RO

Tenure: Continuing

Language Requirements: English

Work arrangements: Due to the nature of the work and operational requirements, this position will require full-time physical presence at the NRC work location identified.

The role

We are looking for a vibrant and dynamic Junior Researcher to support our High Temperature Materials team within the Aerospace Research Centre. The Junior Researcher would be someone who shares our core values of Integrity, Excellence, Respect, and Creativity.

The primary responsibility of the Junior Researcher is to develop and apply, in collaboration with internal and external partners, predictive models including machine learning (ML), materials thermodynamics, etc. for high-throughput identification and screening of advanced materials for gas turbine engine applications. The Junior Researcher will be expected to think critically and creatively develop innovative solutions and approaches using modern ML methods and identify opportunities to adopt this technology into various research projects within the High Temperature Materials team. The Junior Researcher is also be expected to contribute to design, synthesis, processing, and characterization of the microstructures and thermal-mechanical properties of advanced high-temperature materials. The Junior Researcher works in a team environment with researchers and technical experts in world-class facilities. Activities also include the development of proposals for new research initiatives, project management, and providing service to NRC clients. The Junior Researcher provides input into the overall direction and research priorities for the program area within the context of the Portfolio business plan.

You will collaborate directly with senior personnel, other project managers and external clients.This position will appeal to a person who is well organized, who is detail-oriented, and who enjoys working as part of a multidisciplinary team to deliver excellent service.

If you’re that person, then this may be the perfect role for you!

Screening criteria

Applicants must demonstrate within the content of their application that they meet the following screening criteria in order to be given further consideration as candidates:

Education

M.A.Sc. or Ph.D. in materials science, aerospace engineering, or a related field with a focus on high temperature materials and application of digital tools such as machine learning for accelerated materials discovery and phase/property prediction.

For information on certificates and diplomas issued abroad, please see Degree equivalency

Experience

Demonstrated experience in the research and development of advanced materials, particularly those used as high temperature materials in gas turbine engine applications;

Demonstrated experience with the safe operation of a metallographic laboratory for the purposes of microstructural characterization, including the use of metallographic preparation equipment, chemicals, optical and scanning electron microscopy;

Demonstrated experience in applying machine learning algorithms and techniques to materials science problems, including supervised and unsupervised learning, deep learning, and reinforcement learning;

Experience with data preprocessing, model evaluation, handling large datasets, including data collection, cleaning, storage, and management;

Experience with integration of computational results with machine learning models to predict material properties and behavior;

Experience in statistical analysis and data visualization to interpret and communicate findings effectively; and

Experience working with interdisciplinary teams, including materials scientists, engineers, data scientists, and industry stakeholders.

Assets:

Experience in the operation of servo-hydraulic test equipment and software, particularly from MTS, and high temperature hardware such as furnaces, vacuum furnaces, and thermocouples;

Experience in business development, marketing activities, and/or the development of partnerships and collaborations;

Experience in the full spectrum of research activities including identification of research requirements, proposal writing, project management, data production and analysis, and reporting through written documentation, presentations, and publishing.

Condition of employment

Secret clearance

A thorough security clearance process will be applied.

For a Secret Clearance, verification of background information over a period of 10 years is required. Individuals must have lived in Canada for a sufficient period of time to enable the security screening process.

Must be able to work in conditions found in an ordinary laboratory environment with some (minimal) exposure to hazardous materials or chemicals such as adhesives and cleaning agents. Independently work in such environments in a safe manner, with a working-level tolerance to a typical test environment with enhanced noise levels, heat and reduced air quality; and

Ability to hearing mechanical problems.

Language requirements

English

Information on language requirements and self-assessment tests

Assessment criteria

Candidates will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

Technical competencies

Basic knowledge of machine learning techniques as applied to high-throughput materials research and development;

Advanced knowledge of materials properties, behavior, and performance, especially those relevant to gas turbine applications