Postdoctoral Scholar-Fixed Term

Position Summary

The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Michigan State University has an opening for a postdoctoral research associate with an anticipated start date in Spring 2026 in the area of experimental studies of gas-cooled plasma-facing components in fusion technology under the direction of Dr. Minami Yoda. The primary responsibilities of the position will be to reassemble and upgrade a high-pressure and high-temperature helium flow loop (maximum flowrate 100 g/s) and use this facility to study helium-cooled tungsten divertor concepts at nearly prototypical temperatures (maximum 450 °C) and prototypical pressures (about 10 MPa). Applicants must have a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering or a related field, an outstanding academic record, and the ability to supervise external contractors and work with Ph.D. students.

Required Degree

Doctorate -Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or closely related

Minimum Requirements

Ph.D. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering or a related field

Desired Qualifications

An outstanding academic record and the ability to both supervise external contractors and work with Ph.D. students. In addition, experience with and working knowledge of most, if not all, of the following topics:

1. Fundamental knowledge of fluid mechanics and heat transfer
2. Hands-on experience designing, building, and debugging experimental facilities for studying pressurized and heated gas flows
3. Design and implementation of experiments in high-temperature gas flows, including safety considerations
4. Using and developing data acquisition and signal processing software (LabVIEW, MATLAB, etc.), mainly for temperature and pressure data.
5. Some familiarity with magnetic fusion energy

Required Application Materials

• CV
• Cover letter describing your background and interest in the position
• Two References

Review of Applications Begins On

02/23/2026

Website

me.msu.edu