Department
NIAR Engineering Design and Modification Team
Location
Wichita, KS-WSU McConnell
Job Description:
Since its inception in 1985, National Institute for Aviation
Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University has made a name for
itself as the most capable university-based aviation research
center in the United States, providing research, design, testing,
certification and training to the aviation manufacturing industry,
government agencies, educational entities and other clients that
can benefit from our services. NIAR is looking for a talented CFD
Engineer to join our growing, innovative computational aerodynamics
team. This position will be an independent contractor consulting as
a Computational Fluid Dynamics Engineer to support various diverse
customer program efforts.
Essential Functions:
The individual in this position will contribute professionally to a
variety of challenging applications of Thermal Analysis to assist
the NIAR team in creating real world aircraft design efforts, while
ensuring the overall goals of the customer-specific programs are
achieved. The individual will:
- Perform computational fluid dynamics simulations for aerospace
vehicles operating across multiple speed regimes, including but not
limited to:
- Low-speed commercial aircraft.
Transonic and supersonic flight.
Hypersonic.
Conduct steady and time-accurate Reynolds-Averaged
Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations to predict aerodynamic and
aerothermodynamic performance, forces, moments, heat loads, and
flow characteristics.
Generate high-quality unstructured grids for complex vehicle
geometries and perform either manual or automated grid
adaptation.
Analyze and interpret CFD results to provide engineering
insights for vehicle design, performance optimization, and mission
planning.
Validate simulation results against other computational
approaches, experimental data, and flight test measurements.
Document analysis methodologies, simulation parameters, and
results in technical reports and presentations.
Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams including
aerodynamicists, thermodynamicists, aeroelasticians, and flight
mechanics, design, stress, and loads engineers.
Support the development and implementation of best practices
for CFD simulation workflows.
Contribute to code verification and validation activities to
ensure simulation accuracy and reliability.
Qualifications/Minimum Requirements:
- Master’s degree in aerospace engineering, mechanical
engineering, or closely related field; or 5+ years of relevant
experience with a Bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering,
mechanical engineering, or closely related field.
- Experience with steady and time-accurate RANS simulations.
- Demonstrated proficiency with industry-standard
unstructured-grid CFD software packages (Kestrel, FUN3D, STAR-CCM+,
ANSYS Fluent, or equivalent).
- Strong background in fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, and
numerical methods.
- Experience with grid generation tools (unstructured and hybrid
meshes).
- Proficiency in Linux/Unix environments and high-performance
computing (HPC) systems.
- Experience analyzing flows across multiple Mach number
regimes.
- Strong programming/scripting skills (Python, MATLAB, Fortran,
C/C++, or similar).
- Ability to process and visualize large datasets (Tecplot,
ParaView, FieldView, or equivalent).
- Excellent problem-solving and analytical capabilities
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work both independently and as part of a
collaborative team.
- Proven track record of technical documentation and
reporting.
Preferred Qualifications
- Proficiency with CFD code and automated grid refinement.
- Experience with hypersonic flow physics, including:
- High-temperature gas effects
- Chemical non-equilibrium
- Radiation heat transfer
- Ablation modeling
- Familiarity with scale-resolving methods, including:
- Hybrid RANS-LES approaches
- Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Wall-Modeled LES (WMLES)
- Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) and variants (DDES, IDDES)
- Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS)
- Knowledge of uncertainty quantification and sensitivity
analysis techniques.
- Experience with high-lift device analysis (flaps, slats,
landing gear aerodynamics).
- Experience with automated workflow development and parametric
studies.
- Experience with programming for high-performance computing
(MPI, CUDA/HIP/SYCL for GPUs, OpenMP).
- Experience with multi-body and overset mesh generation and
CFD.
- Background in experimental aerodynamics and wind tunnel
testing.
Publications in peer-reviewed journals or conference
proceedings.
All services will be provided as an independent contractor,
pursuant to a Professional Services Agreement, which must be
executed prior to being assigned any work.