Postdoctoral Position in Process & Energy Systems Modeling

• Physics-Based Modeling & Tool Development: Formulate, implement, and maintain numerical models and custom scientific modeling software for energy and process components, such as heat exchangers, expanders, turbines, pumps, compressors, separators, condensers, piping networks, and wellbores
• System Simulation & Optimization: Simulate, optimize, and analyze integrated energy conversion systems, including geothermal power plants, binary/Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC), flash steam systems, thermal utilization networks, CO₂ compression/injection facilities, and process streams
• Techno-Economic Assessment: Integrate physical process models with economic calculations to evaluate project viability, estimating Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), Levelized Cost of Heat (LCOH), Levelized Cost of Lithium (LCOL), equipment cost estimation (cost correlations, cost-index scaling, CAPEX/OPEX), net present value (NPV), and sensitivity analyses
• Coupled Surface-Subsurface Engineering: Develop and apply computational models for coupled surface-subsurface fluid flow, heat transfer, and pressure/temperature evolution across surface facilities and wells
• Scientific Software Implementation: Write clean, modular, and reusable scientific code (primarily in Python) following modern development practices, including version control (Git), automated testing, code style/linting, and clear technical documentation

Required Qualifications & Experience

• Education: PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Process Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Energy Engineering, Thermal Engineering, Computational Engineering, or a related engineering field
• Core Engineering Physics: Strong technical grounding in engineering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and energy conversion systems
• Numerical Modeling & Programming: Proven capability in developing physics-based numerical simulators and models of thermal-fluid or power plant systems from governing equations, implementing them in scientific/engineering software (preferably Python, using scientific libraries) using version control and testing in a collaborative environment
• Engineering Mindset: A strong passion for both conceptual model development ("How should this system be modeled?") and practical software creation ("How do I build robust numerical tools to solve real engineering problems?")

Desired Experience & Additional Assets

• Professional Experience: Relevant industry or applied engineering experience in power plant engineering, process plants, or thermal-fluid systems is desirable
• Domain Expertise: In geothermal power generation, ORC cycles, geologic carbon capture and storage (CCS/CCUS), direct lithium extraction (DLE) from brines, or subsurface gas/energy storage
• Simulation Tools: Familiarity with equation-based, thermodynamic, or process simulation environments (e.g., TESPy, Aspen Plus, EES, Julia Modeling Toolkit, or Modelica), and fluid property libraries (e.g., CoolProp, REFPROP)
• Techno-Economics: Experience in techno-economic modeling, equipment cost correlations, uncertainty analysis, and physical process optimization
• Subsurface Integration: Understanding wellbore dynamics, multiphase flow, or coupled reservoir-surface infrastructure
• Advanced Computing: Competency in compiled languages (such as C++, Rust, or Julia) and multi-physics co-simulation standards (e.g., FMI/FMUs) and Experience in collaborative software development (e.g., Git workflows, code review)

The ideal candidate is a process modeling engineer who translates physics into math, a scientific developer who writes robust code, and an analyst who evaluates technical and economic system performance. In this role, you will both draw from and contribute to the rich multidisciplinary expertise within the GEG Group. This includes collaborating with our dedicated computing team, currently six experts in scientific and engineering computation, AI, and IT, as well as researchers specializing in subsurface thermal-hydraulic-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and geothermal power plant systems.