Mechanical Engineer

Summary

NIST works with industry and science to advance innovation and improve quality of life. We're looking for a Mechanical Engineer to join our team! This notice is issued under direct-hire authority to recruit new talent to occupations for which NIST has a severe shortage of candidates.

Duties

The major duties of this position focus on developing measurement platforms that can quantify the generation of generation and impact of residual stress in the polymeric underfill and compression molding resins that are used as semiconductor packaging applications. These packaging resins are dispensed as monomeric liquids or soft pastes, but cross-link into a thermoset polymer when heated. The conversion from a soft liquid to a rigid thermoset is accompanied by volumetric shrinkage. As the semiconductor devises are rigid solids and do not shrink, the residual stresses are created in the packaging resin which can cause distortion of the device and even device failure over long periods of operation. One of the primary duties of this position is to develop tools that quantify this development of residual stress and to generate an understanding at the materials level for how this stress generation can be minimized. The position will also require working with others at NIST who are exploring how packaging relevant environmental stressors, such as relative humidity and temperature, influences these stresses. This position is part of a broader NIST effort that is trying to develop metrologies in support of the CHIPs Act. Duties include developing instruments, conducting studies on model materials, writing of peer-reviewed publications, giving internal and external presentations, and generating fundamental knowledge that will be broadly shared across the semiconductor community.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: A. Degree: Engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET; or (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics. OR B. Combination of education and experience -- college-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following: 1. Professional registration or licensure -- Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT)1, or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions. 2. Written Test -- Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)2 examination or any other written test required for professional registration by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. 3. Specified academic courses -- Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in the basic requirements under paragraph A. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program as described in paragraph A. 4. Related curriculum -- Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a bachelor's degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions. (The above examples of related curricula are not all-inclusive.) For ZP III: In addition to the basic requirements: Applicants must have a minimum of one year (52 weeks) of specialized experience at the GS-9 level (ZP-II level at NIST) Specialized experience is defined as experience in characterizing the cure mechanisms of cross-linking thermoset polymeric resins, polymer matrix composite materials, cure induced shrinkage of cross-linking thermoset polymeric resins, and the general methods to characterize the mechanical property of polymers is required. OR Master's or equivalent graduate degree OR Combination of graduate education and experience. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done. We will credit all qualifying volunteer experience in your application. The qualification requirements in this vacancy announcement are based on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Qualification Standards Handbook. Applicant Reconsideration