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POSITION SPECIFICS
Your working location will be fully on-site in State College, PA. This position will require periodic travel to remote locations.
We are searching for Mechanical Engineers to join our Deployables and Undersea Connectivity (DUC) Department at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State. The mission of the DUC Department is to develop and mature technical methods and devices to connect platforms in the undersea domain, as well as, bridge to above the sea-air boundary, support tethered and untethered communication techniques between stationary or moving undersea platforms, and employ these capabilities to solve the most challenging undersea communications problems. Primary tasking will be to design, analyze, build, and test mechanical components and systems for undersea applications.
ARL is an authorized DoD SkillBridge partner and welcomes all transitioning military members to apply.
You will:
Analyze requirements, identify problems, and develop innovative solutions
Design structures, mechanisms, actuation systems, and bearing systems
Work with drafting to create and approve drawings
Develop assembly and test procedures
Work with technicians to perform assembly and testing of systems and subsystems
Support on-site field testing
Meet with sponsors, faculty and staff engineers to define the scope of task requirements and schedule constraints
Communicate with Principal Investigators (PI’s) and project managers to provide progress reports
Facilitate the identification of resources needed to accomplish the task/project
Additional responsibilities for higher-level position may include:
Develop and build mechanical testing methods and laboratory experiments
Mentor less experience staff
Design and perform modeling, subsystem integration, or interface analysis
Required Skills/Experience areas include:
Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T ANSI Y14.5)
Abaqus or similar advanced FEA software
Past success with multi‑material assemblies and integrated system architectures
3D CAD design and engineering drawing development (Siemens NX preferred)
Design of machined components and subsystems
Read and interpret mechanical drawings
Completing free-body diagrams; using hand calculations to calculate forces and resultant stresses on structures
Developing test plans and procedures and strong written communication skills
Preferred Skills/Experience areas include:
Support field testing of vehicles and test platforms which could include travel to support test events.
Knowledge of structural or thermal finite element analysis
Packaging of electromechanical assemblies
Ability to learn and work across disciplines (mechanical, electrical, software, logistics) in a small team environment of engineers, technicians, and US military personnel
Attention to detail.
Current eligibility for access to classified information at the Secret level or higher and may be subject to a government background investigation to upgrade clearance eligibility, if required
MINIMUM EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE & REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS
If filled as R&D Engineer - Mechanical (ARL) - Advanced Professional, this position requires:
Bachelor's Degree - Engineering or Science
5+…