Scientist, Material Mechanics

almost 3 years ago
Full time role
Emeryville, CA, US... more
Emeryville, CA, US... more

Company

Sila Nanotechnologies is an electronics company that offers new battery materials chemistry. It works directly with leading consumer electronics and ...

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Job Description

WHO YOU ARE

You are excited to explore the physical phenomena underlying the mechanical behavior of materials and dynamics of bulk solids and complex fluids. You have fun solving problems involving nonlinear stress-strain curves, force chains, jamming transitions, granular phase transitions, cohesive media, and multiphase fluids.  Your measurements and proof-of-concept demonstrations are trusted for their ability to define and quantify the technical risk associated with new technologies. While working with a cross-functional team of scientists and engineers, you will focus on unearthing the core scientific concepts and technical risks that we must more deeply understand in order to synthesize our materials at massive scale safely, economically, and sustainably. In this role, you will help to cooperatively invent and prototype new synthesis techniques that empower a diverse team to scale-up and improve the next-generation of Li-ion battery nano-materials. 

RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES 

  • Design and execute hands-on and iterative experiments to reduce technical risk of new ways of processing solids including automated material conveyance, size reduction, classification, dust mitigation, gas-solids separation, and synthesizing composites. 
  • Use first-principles understanding and validated models to clearly define the fundamental phenomena of material mechanics across a range of length scales from microns to meters. Use that knowledge to help evolve new research directions towards more scalable and safer techniques.
  • Discover, and then teach, the physical mechanisms at the heart of solid mechanics via powder rheometry, stress-strain analysis, size and shape analysis, and numerical modeling.
  • Work with a cross-company team of diverse backgrounds to discover and communicate knowledge necessary for scaling-up material conveyance into and out of chemical reactors. Help refine the technical aspects of research efforts to ensure they are rigorous and lead to unambiguous results.
  • As a mentor to others in the team, offer active listening, collaborative brainstorming, and cooperative hands-on laboratory exploration.
  • Identify safety hazards and work cooperatively to implement improvements

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS

  • A minimum of 5 years of experience developing technologies for manipulating solids by formulating hypotheses and predictions from observations, mechanical design, hands-on building and troubleshooting to collect definitive data to test those predictions.
  • Ability to clearly communicate technical findings to a diverse audience.
  • Experience measuring and modeling bulk solids and multiphase fluids.
  • M.S. (Ph.D. preferable) or comparable industrial experience in Physics, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related discipline.
  • Experience in collaborative problem solving: helping people share knowledge, ideas, resources, and strategies in order to solve challenging scientific problems.




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