Controls Research Scientist

Overview

Do YOU have the ability to conceive, design, and build sophisticated control systems from first principles and requirements definition to flight performance validation?

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Control system design and analysis for precision aerospace mechanisms. Support programs performing research and product development encompassing multiple engineering disciplines including mechanical, electrical, optics, and controls engineering. Project support includes design and development of advanced quantum‑sensing‑based guidance and navigation algorithms; design and development of advanced pointing and stabilization systems for spacecraft, payloads, and next‑generation large segmented optical telescopes; design and development of controls test beds and related facilities to demonstrate pointing and stabilization system performance, and control system synthesis and analysis.

The ideal candidate will have familiarity with the control of high‑bandwidth precision mechanisms through design and test, understand space environments, and work well in a dynamic multi‑disciplinary environment.

The ideal candidate will have a PhD in aerospace or mechanical engineering with at least 10 years of professional experience. Candidate must be a US Person (US Citizen or Green Card holder).

Must be able to communicate effectively with all team members, possess good time management and organizational skills and be willing and able to work in a dynamic and collaborative R&D environment.

On‑site work is required. Candidate must be a US Person (US Citizen or Green Card holder).

• Experience in generating Simulink models and performing time‑domain and frequency‑domain analyses using MATLAB's Simulink is required.
• Strong background in research and development of control systems for mechanical and electro‑mechanical systems, in particular precision mechanisms and guidance & navigation systems applied to aerospace.
• Advanced knowledge of classical and state‑space optimal control methods as well as knowledge of the state‑of‑the‑art in mechanism technologies.
• Knowledge of rigid‑ and flexible‑body dynamics, vibrations, ability to generate and code complex multi‑rigid‑body dynamics models from first principles in Newtonian mechanics.
• Required graduate curriculum include multi‑rigid‑body dynamics and kinematics, vibrations, linear systems theory, classical control, optimal control, digital control, Kalman filtering and estimation, statistics, vector calculus, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, numerical linear algebra, numerical analysis.

• A strong interest in control system development and design work, and ability to justify decisions with analysis and simulations based on first‑principles physics understanding is a must.
• Advanced mathematical education and strong analytical skills at the graduate level.
• Knowledge of quantum mechanics basics, geometric optics, electro‑magnetism, wave mechanics, electro‑mechanical systems including motor drive electronics and sensor signal processing, passive and active vibration isolation systems, orbital mechanics.
• Desired additional graduate curriculum include electrical circuits, non‑linear optimization, convex optimization, robust control, digital signal processing and spectral analysis, calculus of variations, stochastic calculus, numerical integration methods.
• Experience with real‑time embedded software programming and real‑time operating systems is…