Senior Mechatronics Research Engineer

The Senior Mechatronics Engineer will work directly as a member of a Research and Advanced Development team, applying their expertise to develop novel, integrated systems and advance the state of the art. They will at times work independently on pieces of systems, with a team of other engineering disciplines to ensure a cohesive system design.  The candidate must be capable of a great deal of autonomy and self-teaching with respect to designing, fabricating, and testing new concepts. We expect our team members to take poorly or partially understood problems and develop pragmatic solutions quickly and independently.
Functions

• Internalize the notion of ownership, display the qualities of a self-starter and proactive problem solve on a cross-disciplinary team to advance designs from conceptualization onwards.
• Deeply understand existing operational needs and constraints to define sub-system requirements.
• Design practical solutions both quickly and carefully, independently preempting issues of manufacturability.
• Design and execute tests to disambiguate between candidate solutions, find the best approach, and convince the team of your conclusion.
• Transform rough conceptual solutions into robust designs
• Hands-on prototyping, utilizing shop tools and digital fabrication equipment to quickly iterate ideas and solutions.
• Travel to customers as necessary to understand system needs.
• Work with suppliers, machinists, contract manufacturers,
• Develop metrics and perform tests and verification of prototype systems.
• Perform system design analyses, including reliability, design-for-manufacture, design-for-assembly, etc.

Desired Experience, Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• PhD in Robotics or related field, or Six or more years of related work experience, preferably advancing designs from initial concept through initial production.
• Able to learn new technical areas with little guidance
• Understanding of the state of the art in controls theory
• Experience developing PCBs
• Experience with C++ and Python
• Developing APIs for control systems interface with higher level software.
• ROS software and Linux operating system.
• Experience using 3D CAD, preferably SolidWorks - including 2D drawings,
• Experience with rapid prototyping systems such as 3D printers, laser cutters and casting
• Experience designing motion control systems with sensor, actuators and complex mechanisms
• Experience designing systems that are used in industrial settings
• Experience with developing and running scientific experiments
• Able to work with customers and contract manufacturers
• Able to set aggressive but feasible schedules/milestones for your own work, and achieve them.
• Able to think strategically about risk; design, manufacturing, reliability, and mitigations thereof.
• High level of technical writing proficiency equivalent to writing papers for publication (specs, test plans, reports, white papers, etc.)
• Ability to handle electrical design (cable harnesses, wiring diagrams, grounding strategies, etc.) is a plus.

Will travel be required? If Yes, what % of time: up to 10%

6710-2402JL