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Composite Structural Engineer

Category: Engineering
Location: New Orleans, LA

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Summary

  • Gulf Wind Technology (GWT) is dedicated to improving the economic performance of operational wind farms and to pioneering innovation in the design and manufacture of wind turbine blades. Gulf Wind Technology holds the experience and expertise to deliver innovation to products faster than anyone else in the energy industry.
  • Gulf Wind Technology is looking for a passionate engineer looking to solve some of the most pressing challenges in the Wind Energy Industry. The ideal candidate is comfortable working through complex technical programs, applying a principled approach to the structural design and loads analysis for wind turbine blades.
  • Candidates should seek to be hands on and involved with the product from inception, design, prototype, manufacturer, field validation, and final decommissioning.
  • The Composite Structural Engineer will be accountable for structural design and modeling of wind turbine blades, considering the implications and impacts to blade aerodynamics and turbine loads. They will make use of a variety of design tools from BEM analysis to FEA to aero-elastic beam theory and first principal approaches.
  • The Composite Structural Engineer will participate in component, coupon, and full-scale testing, product manufacturing, and field trials – including work in wind turbine towers.

Job description

As a member of Gulf Wind Technology’s Research and Development Team, the Composite Structural Engineer will play a key role in the design and analysis of new and existing blades. As a critical member of the engineering team, you will be responsible for:

  • Creating new and innovative blade designs and composite laminate structures, leading the analysis using appropriate first principal tools, beam theory, fracture mechanics, and FEA tools.
  • Developing tools with numerical methods including linear and non-linear analysis, using internal and commercial software packages.
  • Build new engineering tools, methods, codes, and scripts that improve the accuracy, capability, and speed of deliverables.
  • Contribute to GWT blade and product certification processes, according to IEC 61400-1 and 61400-5.
  • Create and manage detailed test and analysis records, pre and post processing tools, and documentation.
  • Perform system and component level DFMEA.
  • Conduct experimental component and coupon test campaigns, from laboratory to field validation experiments.
  • Lead field performance, loads and strain measurements to gather firsthand understanding of blade and turbine operation
  • Integrating technical and market research into GWT tools and processes to support the company goals and further the development of new products.
  • Contributing to the quality and safety culture at GWT.

Required qualifications

  • A Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, Civil Engineering, or a related field.
  • Good working knowledge and experience with structural engineering and composites modeling processes and tools, such as OpenFAST, Bladed, CATIA, Simula, NASTRAN, Abaqus, ANSYS or similar tools.
  • Excellent working knowledge with programming (MATLAB, Python, C++, C#, or similar)
  • Strong communication and teamwork skills.
  • Excellent communication (written and verbal) skills, creativity, and problem-solving skills.
  • Interest in learning and growing skillsets to maintain state of the art competency.

Desired characteristics

  • Previous relevant experience, preferably in the wind industry, but candidates with translatable experience are encouraged to apply.
  • Experience with structural testing, strain measurement, design of experiments, material selection, and statistical characterization.

A successful candidate will possess equal measures of creativity and passion, technical and interpersonal skills, and a drive and willingness to push the boundaries of blade innovation and technology development. The work environment at GWT creates opportunities for collaboration on projects with team members from multiple disciplines and backgrounds, where all perspectives and viewpoints are valued and respected.

Apply now