Postdoctoral Researcher - College of Engineering

Postdoctoral Researcher - College of Engineering

Villanova is a Carnegie-classified doctoral university. From its founding in 1842 to its position today as a nationally recognized leading university, Villanova University has forged a path of academic excellence. The University is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, home to a large concentration of universities, industries, and government labs.

The Center for Energy ES2 in the Mechanical Engineering Department at Villanova University has an opening for a full-time Postdoctoral Scholar position. The Post-Doctoral Researcher will be part of a research team working on advanced liquid cooling systems for high density data centers, with emphasis on two-phase cooling systems that involve flow boiling of refrigerants. Research topics span fundamental areas such as flow boiling in microchannels and complex porous media funded by the NSF ES2 Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, to applications in actual direct-to-chip cooling systems, from chip to rack, in collaboration with major data center industry partners. In addition to conducting individual research, the Post-Doctoral Researcher will be expected to be a research leader to Doctoral and MS researchers. The position will involve significant interaction and networking with industry partners from many major data center companies, providers, and vendors.

Duties and Responsibilities: Initiate research in new and emerging areas of heat transfer and thermal management applied to data center applications. Design experimental apparatus, systems, and instrumentation for two-phase flow and heat transfer. Supervise and participate in the construction and/or assembly of experimental apparatus, systems, and instrumentation. Perform careful, systematic experimental investigations involving scales from microchannels to full rack systems. Develop physics and AI-based models to elucidate physics, perform optimization, and create surrogate models for system level simulators. Participate in weekly meetings and help to prepare reports and presentations for project sponsors.

Minimum Qualifications: Requirements include a PhD in Engineering or a closely related field. Experience managing milestone-driven sponsored research projects and communicating effectively with stakeholders. Training and experience with two-phase flow and heat transfer with refrigerants, theory and experiments, is mandatory. Experience with hardware development and instrumentation required. Experience with software tools such as ANSYS Fluent, MATLAB, EES, REFPROP, and LabView is required. Excellent organization, communication, and interpersonal skills are prerequisites. Highly motivated, able to work independently and communicate proactively.

Preferred Qualifications: Previous or current experience in a relevant industry or a national lab is highly desirable.