PREP0002567 Postdoc Research Associate in Fire Metrology

PREP Research Associate

Opportunity No.: PREP0002567

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, and thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

APPLY ONLINE HERE

Postdoctoral Researcher Associate in Fire Metrology

The National Fire Research Laboratory (NFRL) is the nation’s premier laboratory for studying the dynamics of full-scale structural fires. This project conducts research to develop and evaluate metrology to accurately measure fire spread, smoke production, fire-related emissions, and the efficacy of fire safety solutions. The project aims to expand NFRL’s measurement capabilities with applications of state-of-the-art technologies to improve existing temperature and heat transfer measurements, increase the current suite of gaseous emissions measurements, incorporate collection and analysis methods for detecting per and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), as well as improve flow measurements to better quantify heat and mass transfer induced by fire. 

Key Responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Instrumentation and data acquisition setup
• Developing strategies for real-time gas and smoke analysis
• Developing strategies for acquiring and analyzing thermal image data
• Analyzing various measurement data from fire experiments
• Communicating results through presentations, technical reports, and archival journals

Desired Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Engineering (Mechanical, Fire Protection, Electrical), Chemistry, Physics, or a related field
• Experience in a research laboratory environment  
• Proficient at programming in Matlab or Python  
• Ability to develop and execute research plans 
• Strong oral and written communication skills

Other Details:

• Full-time: the participant is expected to work 40 hours a week.
• Location: the participant will work at the NIST Gaithersburg Campus.
• Duration: this is a one-year position. Extensions are sometimes granted depending on the availability of funds.
• For questions related to the research project or the nature of the work in this position, please contact Dr. Rodney Bryant (rodney.bryant@nist.gov). For questions related to the online application or NIST PREP more generally, please contact Dr. John Brandau (john.brandau@morgan.edu).

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Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree holders, postdocs, and faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher education in the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is needed to facilitate the administrative functions of the PREP Program.

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