Wind Tunnel Characterization - Icing Cloud Specialist Engineer

Overview

The Test Facilities Operation, Maintenance and Engineering (TFOME) team at the NASA Glenn Research Center provides engineering and technical services in the areas of aeropropulsion and space propulsion and power test facilities.  TFOME management is dedicated to excellence in service and to providing outstanding technical opportunities for our employees. We specialize in providing unique products and services to NASA Glenn.  We are currently seeking a Wind Tunnel Characterization (WTC) - Icing Cloud Specialist Enginner to join our team that will be providing facility and characterization engineering support to our wind tunnels as part of the TFOME contract at the NASA Glenn Research Center.

HX5 Sierra, LLC is an Equal Opportunity Employer that recruits and hires qualified candidates without regard to race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, disability, or veteran status.

Responsibilities

FUNCTION OF POSITION

The Icing Cloud Characterization Specialist (ICCS) is a member of the Wind Tunnel Characterization (WTC) team. ICCS is responsible for understanding the icing cloud physics and characterization in the NASA Glenn Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) and Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL). For both IRT and PSL, this includes developing and maintaining the icing cloud calibration, documenting the flow quality over the entire operating range of the facility and ensuring the stability and repeatability of the icing cloud through health monitoring techniques such as statistical process control. The ICCS is a key member of the facility and will work closely with facility and test engineers to ensure that customer needs in terms of icing cloud conditions are being met. The understanding of the wind tunnel operations and flow field that the ICCS must possess are foundational to ensuring that quality data is being produced from each test project. The ICCS is responsible for the overall planning and execution of icing cloud characterization tasks (hardware and software development and testing) and for documenting the icing cloud characterization details.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. The primary task of the Wind Tunnel Characterization - Icing Cloud Specialist is to develop and execute the icing cloud characterization procedures for a IRT and PSL. As defined by the NASA Aeronautics Evaluation and Test Competency (AETC) Wind Tunnel Characterization Working Group (WTCWG), the overall characterization for a wind tunnel will consist of the following four key points: (1) Calibration, (2) Flow Quality, (3) Facility Evaluation, and (4) Quality Assurance. The ICCS will develop the characterization plan for a given ground test facility to address these four key points while taking into consideration the specifics of the facility such as operating regime and primary test types.2. Provides insight to the test customers on the icing cloud characteristics and potential constraints and interactions between the customer test hardware and the icing cloud. This will require gaining an in-depth understanding of the facility operation, flow field, measurement system operation and calibration, the supporting input measurements, and the interactions of subsystems to develop model systems for subsequent computer simulations that include all of the uncertainty contributions.3. Provides test project management oversight for all icing cloud characterization projects occurring in the test facility.4. Conducts testing to develop the operational calibration relationships for the test facility relative to the icing cloud.5. Conducts testing to thoroughly understand and document the icing cloud characteristics in the test facility test section/test cell.6. Maintain detailed documentation on the characterization efforts, process and procedures, characterization data, and test results. This will include test project documentation files, in-house reporting of characterization testing and technical papers on characterization activities.7. Maintain and update the standard procedures for the characterization of the NASA Glenn ground test facilities.8. Triage all requests from ground test facility personnel and test customers for additional characterization information and aid management in establishing priorities for each request.9. Prepare documentation supporting facility development efforts.10. Provide input on instrumentation systems specifications to ensure data quality.11. Provide support for training of other engineers and technicians and lead the training efforts for both test facility and test personnel on icing cloud characterization, particularly information specific to the NASA Glenn test facilities.12. Actively participate in the NASA/DoD Wind Tunnel Characterization Working Group (WTCWG).13. Actively participate in characterization activities such as the development and sharing of best practices through professional technical societies or government-sponsored meetings.14. Provide periodic status reports on each assigned task to contractor and customer management.15. Work with the data engineers on areas of measurement uncertainty to improve facility calibration methodologies that will result in overall better data quality.

Qualifications

1. General knowledge and understanding of aerospace testing and facility operations.

2. Understanding of mechanical test systems involving hydraulics, high vacuum, pneumatics, fluid mechanics, fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, and mechanical design.

3. General understanding of electronic test systems involving data acquisition, sensors, and signal conditioning.

4. Requires a BS degree in engineering or a field related to the Icing Cloud Characterization position.

5. Programming skills are highly desirable, particularly a working knowledge of MATLAB®.

6. Proficient in use of Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.