Job Description

What Your Job Will Be Like:

We are seeking an Industrial or Mechanical Engineering Co-op Intern in the Concentrating Solar Test & Demonstration department. The work performed by the student intern will help our staff to develop our process for operation, control, and maintenance of our heliostat field, solar furnace, solar simulator, as well as other testing capabilities. This work will ensure that we can effectively deliver on our deep R&D work. This position requires the candidate to be able to lift more than 35lbs with or without assistance, pushing and pulling, as well as bending, twisting, climbing, crawling, or crouching/squatting. Having an understanding and adherence to applicable Sandia National laboratories ES&H requirements and guidelines will be critical for this position.

A successful candidate may also:

• Assist our staff with the operations, maintenance, and continuous improvement of the test capabilities at the National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF).
• Work on the analysis of heat transfer/thermodynamic systems for supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle systems
• Work on novel high temperature falling particles and novel molten salt chemistries.

Having an understanding and adherence to applicable Sandia National laboratories ES&H requirements and guidelines will be critical for this position.

Salary Range:

At Sandia, we value the important work done by our interns and its contribution to National Security. Because of this, our interns earn competitive pay rates. Our pay structure is based on earned credit hours, classification, and degree level. Your pay rate will be determined during the hire process and included in your offer package. You can view the Intern Pay Rate chart here (https://www.sandia.gov/app/uploads/sites/51/2024/10/Student-Rate-Sheet-Sept-2024.pdf) .

Qualifications We Require:

You bring the confidence and skills to be eligible for the job by meeting these minimum requirements:

• Earned bachelor's degree
• Graduate student at a related accredited university
• Enrolled full time in the term immediately preceding the internship
• Registration with the university's official co-op office
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0
• Ability to work up to 40 hours per week
• U.S. citizens, legal permanent residents, asylees or refugees in the U.S.

Qualifications We Desire:

• Some familiarity with Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) or renewable energy.
• Demonstrated experience using MS Office and excellent written and oral communication skills
• Experience working in an industrial facility or operational environment
• Experience in test operations and experimental design
• Experience using basic hand tools (Drills, wrenches, and Multimeters)
• Some knowledge of heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, or material mechanics
• Experience using LabView or any DAQ/control software
• Any experience programming in Labview, Matlab, or Python
• Bending, twisting, climbing, crawling, or crouching/squatting
• Lifting more than 35lbs with our without assistance
• Pushing or pulling

Posting Duration:

This posting will be open for application submissions for a minimum of seven (7) calendar days, including the ‘posting date’. Sandia reserves the right to extend the posting date at any time.

About Our Team:

Department 8925 develops, demonstrates and validates technologies to support concentrating solar installations, operates and maintains the NSTTF, and provides testing for renewable energy, defense and space applications. By demonstrating solar thermal technology solutions for energy and defense applications, this department will support and accelerate the transition to carbon-free energy. While the department focuses on directly addressing needs of existing solar thermal energy systems, team members work closely with colleagues across our energy programs, providing subject matter expertise in testing of systems and materials under thermal stress, operation of large scale multicomponent systems, and demonstrating solar thermal technologies at scale . Efforts span a range of research topics, including molten salt components, heliostat metrology, conjugate effects testing (thermal and sheer stress), and engineering of pilot and demonstration scale implementations of solar thermal technologies.

Our Facilities include a 6 Megawatt thermal heliostat field with 214 heliostats, a 200 ft solar tower with multiple test bays, a high-temperature/high-pressure flowing molten salt test loop, an optical characterization lab, a 16 kilowatt thermal solar furnace, and a Generation 3 CSP Pilot Power Plan. The world-class facility and extensive experience of researchers in the department provide the opportunity to make significant technological impacts in utility-scale solar electric generation, solar fuels, thermochemical cycles, high flux or thermal material characterization, thermal storage, and the development of disruptive technologies.

About Sandia:

Sandia National Laboratories is the nation’s premier science and engineering lab for national security and technology innovation, with teams of specialists focused on cutting-edge work in a broad array of areas. Some of the main reasons we love our jobs:

• Challenging work with amazing impact that contributes to security, peace, and freedom worldwide
• Extraordinary co-workers
• Some of the best tools, equipment, and research facilities in the world
• Career advancement and enrichment opportunities
• Flexible work arrangements for many positions include 9/80 (work 80 hours every two weeks, with every other Friday off) and 4/10 (work 4 ten-hour days each week) compressed workweeks, part-time work, and telecommuting (a mix of onsite work and working from home)
• Generous vacations, strong medical and other benefits, competitive 401k, learning opportunities, relocation assistance and amenities aimed at creating a solid work/life balance*

World-changing technologies. Life-changing careers. Learn more about Sandia at: http://www.sandia.gov*These benefits vary by job classification.

Security Clearance:

This position does not currently require a Department of Energy (DOE) security clearance.

Sandia will conduct a pre-employment drug test and background review that includes checks of personal references, credit, law enforcement records, and employment/education verifications. Furthermore, employees in New Mexico need to pass a U.S. Air Force background screen for access to Kirtland Air Force Base. Substance abuse or illegal drug use, falsification of information, criminal activity, serious misconduct or other indicators of untrustworthiness can cause access to be denied or terminated, resulting in the inability to perform the duties assigned and subsequent termination of employment.

If hired without a clearance and it subsequently becomes necessary to obtain and maintain one for the position, or you bid on positions that require a clearance, a pre-processing background review may be conducted prior to a required federal background investigation. Applicants for a DOE security clearance need to be U.S. citizens. If you hold more than one citizenship (i.e., of the U.S. and another country), your ability to obtain a security clearance may be impacted.

Members of the workforce (MOWs) hired at Sandia who require uncleared access for greater than 179 days during their employment, are required to go through the Uncleared Personal Identity Verification (UPIV) process. Access includes physical and/or cyber (logical) access, as well as remote access to any NNSA information technology (IT) systems. UPIV requirements are not applicable to individuals who require a DOE personnel security clearance for the performance of their SNL employment or to foreign nationals. The UPIV process will include the completion of a USAccess Enrollment, SF-85 (Questionnaire for Non-Sensitive Positions) and OF-306 (Declaration of for Federal Employment). An unfavorable UPIV determination will result in immediate retrieval of the SNL issued badge, removal of cyber (logical) access and/or removal from SNL subcontract. All MOWs may appeal the unfavorable UPIV determination to DOE/NNSA immediately. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the MOW may try to go through the UPIV process one year after the decision date.

EEO:

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, or veteran status and any other protected class under state or federal law.

NNSA Requirements for MedPEDs:

If you have a Medical Portable Electronic Device (MedPED), such as a pacemaker, defibrillator, drug-releasing pump, hearing aids, or diagnostic equipment and other equipment for measuring, monitoring, and recording body functions such as heartbeat and brain waves, if employed by Sandia National Laboratories you may be required to comply with NNSA security requirements for MedPEDs.

If you have a MedPED and you are selected for an on-site interview at Sandia National Laboratories, there may be additional steps necessary to ensure compliance with NNSA security requirements prior to the interview date.

Job ID: 694527

Job Family: 91

Regular/Temporary Position: R

Full/Part-Time Status: P

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.