APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

• CURRENT PENN STATE EMPLOYEE (faculty, staff, technical service, or student), please login to Workday to complete the internal application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.

• CURRENT PENN STATE STUDENT (not employed previously at the university) and seeking employment with Penn State, please login to Workday to complete the student application process. Please do not apply here, apply internally through Workday.

• If you are NOT a current employee or student, please click “Apply” and complete the application process for external applicants.

This position is funded for 12 months; continuation past 12 months will be based on university need, performance, and/or availability of funding.

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POSITION SPECIFICS​

The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Department of Physics at The Pennsylvania State University are seeking to fill a Research Engineer - Advanced position in the departments’ in-house electronics design facility. The successful candidate will work on a variety of collaborative physics and astrophysics projects under the guidance of the Detector Development Lead and in collaboration with faculty in the two departments. The DDL maintains expertise in detection of photons and particles, using advanced techniques in particle physics and astronomy. The projects will range from satellite- and balloon-based observatories to deep underground experiments, with science goals aimed at high-energy astrophysics, particle astrophysics, and fundamental physics projects. 

The Research Engineer-Advanced will lead engineering staff in the Detector Development lab in the development, fabrication, installation and use of custom circuit boards, electronics systems, and/or firmware relevant for these projects. The successful candidate will oversee the operations of the lab which currently includes three staff engineers. Some responsibilities include:

- Support faculty to define project requirements, design, and execute hardware, firmware, and software solutions.  

- Design Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) 

- Test electronic hardware using tools such as digital multimeters, oscilloscopes, and VNAs

- Installation and deployment of hardware, firmware, and software systems by working at integration facilities. 

- Management of DDL staff and lab and students working within the lab. 

- Communication with faculty at Penn State and researchers around the world on physics and astronomy projects

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Preferred (but not mandatory) skills include using Altium Designer, HDL programming, programming microcontrollers, and familiarity with common hardware communication protocols such as i2c and SPI.

 

MINIMUM EDUCATION, WORK EXPERIENCE & REQUIRED CERTIFICATIONS

Bachelor's Degree - Engineering or Science 3+ years of relevant experience Required Certifications: None

 

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Applications must be submitted electronically and include a cover letter and resume. Applicants should arrange for three reference letters to be submitted to physicsapply@psu.edu, indicating the job number and position title in the subject line. Review of applications will begin immedia