Cryogenic Test & Development Engineer

Own the development and execution of cryogenic component and subsystem testing for HPDrive. You will take technical questions and turn them into well-designed, instrumented and repeatable experiments - from test-rig and fixture development through commissioning, measurement, troubleshooting, analysis and documentation., * Develop experimental methods for cryogenic electrical-machine components and subsystems.

• Design and develop test rigs, fixtures and bespoke experimental hardware.
• Select, install and commission instrumentation, sensors and data-acquisition systems.
• Undertake electrical, thermal and other relevant measurements in cryogenic environments.
• Assemble, commission and troubleshoot experimental systems, including unexpected measurement or hardware behaviour.
• Analyse and interpret test data with the wider engineering team and use the results to guide subsequent development.
• Develop safe, robust and increasingly repeatable test methods, procedures and documentation.
• Support the progression from component testing to larger assemblies and complete machine demonstrators.

We are looking first and foremost for practical capability, engineering judgement and the ability to take ownership in a small, hands-on development team.

• Strong practical experience in experimental, test or development engineering.
• Experience working with cryogenic or low-temperature systems.
• Good understanding of instrumentation, measurement and data acquisition.
• Experience developing or modifying test rigs, fixtures or experimental apparatus.
• Strong practical engineering and fault-finding ability.
• Ability to work from an engineering requirement rather than relying solely on established test procedures.
• A rigorous approach to measurement quality, safety and documentation.
• Curiosity and judgement when investigating unfamiliar technical problems.

Useful experience

Experience in some of the following would be particularly valuable, but we do not expect candidates to have all of them:

• Liquid nitrogen, helium or other cryogenic systems; low-temperature instrumentation; or vacuum systems.
• Superconducting magnets, coils or other low-temperature electrical systems.
• High-current electrical testing, thermal/heat-transfer measurement, or pressure and flow instrumentation.
• Electrical insulation testing or scientific instrumentation.
• Aerospace, hydrogen, fusion, space or other advanced engineering environments., You may have developed your expertise through an engineering degree, an experimental PhD, or an equivalent combination of technical education and practical experience. Previous electrical-machine design experience is not required.

What matters most is that you can turn a technical question into a good experiment and make that experiment work in the real world.

Why join HPDrive?

• Take ownership of a critical experimental capability within an emerging aerospace technology company.
• Develop first-of-a-kind experimental systems rather than simply operate established test equipment.
• Work directly with advanced cryogenic electrical-machine hardware, from components through to complete demonstrators.
• Work in a small, experienced engineering team where individual technical contributions are highly visible.
• Work alongside GKN Aerospace and the University of Nottingham and access significant cryogenic, electrical-machine and propulsion expertise and facilities.
• Help establish the experimental methods and engineering practices that will underpin future HPDrive products.

Interested?

If you enjoy designing experiments, building rigs, making difficult measurements and understanding why complex hardware does not behave quite as expected, we would be very interested to hear from you.

Please submit a CV and a short covering note outlining the practical experience most relevant to the role.

Pay: £45,000.00-£65,000.00 per year

HPDrive Technologies is developing advanced cryogenic electrical-machine technology for future aerospace propulsion. Formed through collaboration between GKN Aerospace and the University of Nottingham, HPDrive combines the agility and ownership of a small engineering company with access to significant industrial, electrical-machine, cryogenic and propulsion expertise and facilities.

We are expanding our core engineering team as our technology moves into increasingly ambitious hardware manufacture, testing and demonstration programmes. People joining at this stage will have genuine influence over how the technology - and the engineering capability around it - is developed.

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/university-of-nottingham-and-gkn-aerospace-launch-hpdrive-to-advance-cryogenic-electrical-machine-technologies