Hydrogen Sensor Material Scientist

Description

The Leidos Research Support Team supporting the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) is seeking an Hydrogen Sensor Material Scientist to join our team in Pittsburgh, PA. This opportunity will allow side by side execution of research with world-class scientists and engineers using state of the art equipment to contribute to new areas of basic and applied research. The work will support the development of robust fiber optic sensors capable of withstanding harsh environments and detecting changes in gas compositions for hydrogen and methane.

In this position, the researcher will have opportunities to publish in high-quality peer-reviewed journals, present at national and international conferences, and contribute to the development of new intellectual property. Regular project reporting will be required. Given the extensive interface with clients and collaborators, strong communication skills are essential.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Select, synthesize, and develop novel hydrogen sensing materials that can be implemented on a variety of sensing platforms with high sensitivity, selectivity, and robustness.
• Conduct experimental testing to evaluate sensor performance under various environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure, humidity).
• Design sensor packaging and prototypes compatible with field deployment.
• Conduct field tests to validate sensor performance in real-world sceneries, including pipelines, hydrogen storage, and other safety-critical environments.
• Analyze sensor data and refine sensor designs to meet stringent performance criteria.
• Publish and present findings of research in technical reports, conferences, and journal articles.

Required Education, Experience & Other:

• PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
• Hands-on experience in sensor development and testing, particularly for gas detection.
• Experience with sensor fabrication and testing (ideally in harsh environments).
• Knowledge of functional materials for hydrogen sensing.
• Hands-on experience materials characterization experience (e.g. SEM/TEM, XPS, XRD)
• First authorship of posters/presentations at national conferences and/or peer-reviewed journal articles.
• Must be able to meet the requirements for gaining access to work on the NETL campus.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated track record of publications and/or patents in the field of hydrogen sensing.
• Experience with nanomaterial synthesis and functionalization.
• Experience with sensor packaging and field deployment is a plus.
• Knowledge of optical spectroscopy techniques including UV/Vis/Near-IR, ellipsometry, fluorescence, fiber coating, fiber Bragg gratings, interferometric sensing, optical time-domain reflectometry (OTDR), optical frequency-domain reflectometry (OFDR), Rayleigh and other backscatter phenomena.
• Experience performing field tests to demonstrate sensor performance targets.
• Experience developing, maintaining, and troubleshooting experimental apparatus with programs like LabView.

Salary Range for this position: $95K to $100K

While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline onlyand not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.