Senior Design Engineer, Turbo-machinery

Mechanical Design Engineer – Turbo-machinery

Company Description

Critical Energy is a trailblazing startup in stealth mode, poised to redefine the world of clean energy.

Our Mission: To build an abundant, low-cost, 100% clean energy future through groundbreaking geothermal innovation.

We’re a team of passionate engineers, designers, and visionaries building cutting-edge solutions to meet the world’s energy needs with 100% clean energy. We are in the early stages of development and building our founding team. This is your chance to get in on the ground floor of something big! If you’re ready to work at a fun, fast-paced, groundbreaking organization that is positioned to revolutionize geothermal energy, apply today!

About the Role
We’re seeking an innovative and versatile Mechanical Design Engineer to create new turbomachinery. Collaborating with engineers across the company, this Mechanical Design Engineer will help design our next generation of power-generating turbine assembly, taking ownership from cradle to grave and driving the project through completion. This role will focus on mechanical design from piece parts to system integration, with both an attention to detail and a broad understanding of the product.

Experience specifically with turbomachinery is not a requirement, but is a significant strength.

Responsibilities:

• Find new design solutions by integrating your own innovations with requirements and opportunities found by other subject-area experts (such as turbomachinery, fluid systems, electrical systems, and thermodynamic modeling).

• Create detailed CAD models and draft drawings per ASME Y14.5 to document and communicate your designs; collaborate with other engineers on checking and reviewing models & drawings.

• Perform structural analyses to validate your design; collaborate with other engineers on checking and reviewing structural analyses.

• Drive your project to delivery by supporting the fabrication, assembly, and testing of the hardware you’ve designed. Review production issues and proactively hunt for solutions.

• Support Field Ops teams with technical expertise and advice after product delivery. Accept feedback from Field Ops for design improvements.

The role will involve working closely with Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Thermodynamics, Turbomachinery, Field Ops, and other teams. This role will often be a central point of contact between teams. Candidates must be willing to be flexible in their work and help build the Company.

Expertise you will bring to the Team:

• Developing innovative design concepts for new machines or fluid systems. You've created CAD models of parts that were actually produced and assembled into a machine.

• Bonus: Experience with rotating machinery and sub-components like airfoils, stators, bearings, seals, housings/ casings, high performance shafts and / or turbines / impellers / inducers / etc.

• Bonus: Experience with assemblies and secondary systems common to engines and generators, like piping, fittings, valves, pumps, sensors, and actuators.

• Building and managing assemblies in CAD while ensuring proper fit and function of all individual piece parts. You can set up an assembly in CAD that is both digitally robust and easy to assemble in the real world.

• Bonus: Specific experience in an NX / Teamcenter environment

• Bonus: CAD experience with mechanical routing and / or surface modeling

• You have prototype and production level experience with detailed manufacturing drawings with appropriate geometric dimensioning and tolerance (GD&T). You care enough to personally talk to machinists / technicians about the GD&T on your drawings and then implement their feedback to make the product better. Your drawings are a cohesive piece of documentation and not just a random assortment of views with dimensions.

• Bonus: You’ve actually read ASME Y14.5 and don’t just Google what the symbols mean

• Bonus: Hands-on experience with product development, such as resolving manufacturing issues and analyzing test data to inform design modifications.

• Experience with preliminary stress and thermal analysis on components and assemblies to ensure they can withstand operational loads and temperatures. You can use basic hand calculations to approximate simple load cases, like a pressurized pipe or weighted beam.

• Bonus: Experience with analyzing vibration, fatigue, or similar

• Bonus: Experience with ANSYS Structural and / or Modal workflows

• You have worked with other engineering disciplines (such as Aerodynamics, Materials, and Manufacturing) to optimize designs for performance, reliability, and manufacturability. You’re capable of correcting another engineer without being rude and capable of accepting a polite correction.

• Knowledge of common materials and manufacturing methods. You can look at most objects around you and guess how they could have been made / what general type of material they were made out of.

• Bonus: You’ve personally made metal or plastic parts that were used in a machine. You’ve personally assembled a machine that performed an operation

• Experience creating and maintaining comprehensive design documentation, including design reviews, process specifications, and bill of materials (BOMs).

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or related field, or equivalent experience.

• 4+ years of proven experience in a mechanical design role, with a strong portfolio of projects involving complex machinery. Experience specifically with turbomachinery is not a requirement.

• A solid understanding of core mechanical engineering principles, including statics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and material science. Must be able to apply this understanding to first principles system sizing and modeling.

• Familiarity with designing for metal CNC machining.

• Bonus: familiarity with designing for casting, forging, additive, precision grinding, gear / spline hobbing and / or similar

• Bonus: familiarity with high-performance polymers for bushings / seals

• Proficiency in applying Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (ASME Y14.5)

• Experience with a modern CAD package and a willingness to immediately self-teach proficiency in Siemens NX.

• Bonus: proven expertise in Siemens NX

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills

• Highly self-motivated; Good communication and team-working skills

Additional Qualifications that you may or may not have:

• In-depth knowledge of the design and operation of specific types of turbomachinery (e.g., gas turbines, steam turbines, centrifugal compressors)

• Experience with Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and/or Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software (e.g., Ansys, STAR-CCM+)