PREP0004054 Thermodynamics and Pressure Metrology Researcher

PREP Research Associate

Opportunity No.: PREP0004054

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

Thermodynamics and Pressure Metrology Researcher

Project Description:

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Fundamental Thermodynamics Group anticipates an open position performing metrological research to establish a new, higher-accuracy pressure scale based on pneumatic piston gauges. A piston gauge establishes a calculable pressure from the measured piston area and the force (weight) applied to the piston. The uncertainty in pressure is dominated by the uncertainty in “effective area” associated with the piston gauge, including deformation and fluid corrections. The effective area is the “calibration factor” of the piston gauge; it is the quantity that when combined with the loaded forces on the gauge produces the pressure in the fluid line connected to the gauge. This research project aims to characterize a set of piston gauges with an accuracy never yet realized at NIST. These will be used to calibrate customer pressure transducers and piston gauges over the pressure range 50 kPa to 10 MPa.

At NIST, the selected candidate will gain research experience and measurement skills that are highly valuable for a career in academia, industry, or a national laboratory. Qualified researchers with a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree in a STEM field are encouraged to apply. Researchers will work on-site at NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Perform experimental tasks toward realizing a new, higher accuracy pressure scale based on pneumatic piston gauges
• Data and uncertainty analysis
• Disseminating project results via peer-reviewed publications and public presentations

Desired Qualifications: 

• US Citizen is strongly preferred
• PhD (is preferred) in Physics or a related field
• Experience pressure, vacuum, dimensional and/or temperature metrology,
• Experience with python programming

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 expected to be 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. Eric Norrgard (eric.norrgard@nist.gov). For questions related to the online application or NIST PREP more generally, please contact msu-nistprep@morgan.edu.

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

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.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your voluntary consent for NIST to use the information you submit for the purpose stated.