General Description

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (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, 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. 

Research Title: 

Engineering for a Circular Economy 

The work will entail: 

NIST's Engineering Lab (EL) Systems Integration Division, Life Cycle Engineering Group is seeking a researcher in product design for microelectronic circularity. We are expanding our research to develop ways of maximizing the value of U.S. microelectronics and semiconductors based on principles of circular economy. Microelectronics are valued for their processing capabilities and the materials that they contain. Our team, together with our external partners, is developing new practices for design that will better enable recovery. 

The design research aspects of the work explore new ways to integrate circularity assessment into the design of products containing microelectronics. We are developing new metrics and measurement methods to allow designers to assess and plan for the recoverability of these complex products. 

Additionally, this work focuses on the identification of information and data needs to provide decisionsupport to consumers and enable end-of-life stakeholders (recyclers, municipalities, waste managers, infrastructure providers) that improve the volume of valuable microelectronics to be recovered. 

The methods developed in this work will be used to inform future product design and may be a basis for corporate or open standards. We will drive the state of the art forward with advanced techniques in life cycle assessment, simulation, and AI- and data-driven design. Results will include a suite of decision support tools (metrics, models, and published research) and new standards to improve recovery outcomes, thereby strengthening supply chain resiliency via new material sources, and enabling stakeholders to respond dynamically to material availability challenges in the future. 

We seek experienced research candidates with a background in products design, micro and nano engineering, and/or supply-chain interoperability, and a Ph.D. (preferred), M.S. and/or related experience with a record of research in peer-reviewed publications. US citizenship needed. Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to: 

? Conduct a landscape survey documenting the state of the art in chip and microelectronic design, including existing efforts for reuse, recycling and refurbishment and current methods to quantify financial and environmental impact 

? Partner will stakeholders in the semiconductor ecosystem to develop and test fit-for-purpose recovery metrics 

? Outline best design practices for circular and sustainable microelectronic products and support the development of documentary standards to disseminate findings 

? Integrate end of life data with computational design to enable better recovery outcomes for microelectronics 

? Publish and present findings through internal reports, peer-reviewed conferences, and academic journals

Qualifications

Desired skills/technical knowledge include a combination from the following: 

? Understanding of micro/nano fabrication processes for chips and first-principle modeling  

? Experience with systems thinking and supply chain modeling 

? Familiarity with LCA and related forms of assessment used to evaluate environmental performance of products  

? Programming, data analysis and visualization with Python and/or MATLAB 

? Experience or study of product design and engineering principles for sustainability

Application Instructions

Please upload the following with your application:

-       CV/Resume

*Please limit C.V to 3 pages only and ONLY include a valid email address for your contact info. Your resume will not be considered if the following information is included on your CV/resume.

-       Self portraits

-       Phone number

-       Home address/Country

-       Citizenship status

-       Languages spoken

-       Sex/Gender

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 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 of the information you submit for the purpose stated. 

About Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University remains committed to its founding principle, that education for all students should be grounded in exploration and discovery. Hopkins students are challenged not just to learn but also to advance learning itself. Critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and entrepreneurship are all encouraged and nourished in this unique educational environment. After more than 130 years, Johns Hopkins remains a world leader in both teaching and research. Faculty members and their research colleagues at the university's Applied Physics Laboratory have each year since 1979 won Johns Hopkins more federal research and development funding than any other university. The university has nine academic divisions and campuses throughout the Baltimore-Washington area. The Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, the Whiting School of Engineering, the School of Education and the Carey Business School are based at the Homewood campus in northern Baltimore. The schools of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing share a campus in east Baltimore with The Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Peabody Institute, a leading professional school of music, is located on Mount Vernon Place in downtown Bal...timore. The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies is located in Washington's Dupont Circle area.

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