Department
NIAR Engineering Design and Modification Team

Location
Wichita, KS-WSU McConnell

Job Description:

Since its inception in 1985, National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University has made a name for itself as the most capable university-based aviation research center in the United States, providing research, design, testing, certification and training to the aviation manufacturing industry, government agencies, educational entities and other clients that can benefit from our services. NIAR is looking for a talented Thermal Analysis Engineer to join our growing, innovative computational aerodynamics team. This position will be an independent contractor consulting as a Thermal Analysis Engineer to support various diverse customer program efforts.

Essential Functions:

The individual in this position will contribute professionally to a variety of challenging applications of Thermal Analysis to assist the NIAR team in creating real world aircraft design efforts, while ensuring the overall goals of the customer-specific programs are achieved. The individual will:

• Perform Thermal design and analysis of manned/unmanned air vehicles at conceptual, preliminary, and detailed design maturities
• Define thermal system architectures and material selection strategies for vehicles operating in demanding flight environments
• Thermal analysis of flight vehicles using CFD, FEA, and engineering methods
• Material response modeling under combined thermal and mechanical loads
• Transient thermal analysis for time-varying mission profiles
• Ground test planning, execution, and analysis in specialized thermal test facilities
• Flight test planning, execution, and post-flight thermal data analysis
• Use first principles and MATLAB/Python models to inform design decisions
• Collaborate with aerodynamics, structures, electrical, and systems engineers on integrated solutions
• Validate simulation results against other computational approaches, experimental data, and flight test measurements.
• Document analysis methodologies, simulation parameters, and results in technical reports and presentations.
• Support the development and implementation of best practices for simulation workflows.
• Contribute to code verification and validation activities to ensure simulation accuracy and reliability.

Qualifications/Minimum Requirements:

• Master’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or closely related field; or 5+ years of relevant experience with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, or closely related field.
• In-depth understanding of heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and high-temperature environments
• 5+ years of experience in aerospace thermal engineering on aircraft, engine, or missile programs
• Experience with thermal-structural coupling
• Ground testing experience with thermal instrumentation and data acquisition
• Strong programming skills in MATLAB, Python, or similar for tool development
• Experience preparing formal documentation
• Excellent problem-solving and analytical capabilities
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a collaborative team.
• Proven track record of technical documentation and reporting.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with thermal analysis using Thermal Desktop or ThermoAnalytics
• Proficiency with CFD code and automated grid refinement.
• Experience with hypersonic flow physics, including:
• High-temperature gas effects
• Chemical non-equilibrium
• Radiation heat transfer
• Ablation modeling
• Knowledge of uncertainty quantification and sensitivity analysis techniques.
• Experience with automated workflow development and parametric studies.
• Experience with multi-body and overset mesh generation and CFD.
• CAD experience with 3D Experience, CATIA, or Siemens NX
• Experience using CFD (STAR-CCM+, ANSYS Fluent) and/or FEA thermal solvers
• Publications in peer-reviewed journals or conference proceedings.

All services will be provided as an independent contractor, pursuant to a Professional Services Agreement, which must be executed prior to being assigned any work.