Graduate Fall Intern – Modeling and Analysis of Distributed Hybrid Energy Systems

NLR’s 305-acre Flatirons Campus is the nation’s premier wind energy, water power, and grid integration research facility. Nestled south of Boulder, Colorado, and north of NLR’s main South Table Mountain campus, Flatirons Campus sits adjacent to the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge and countless acres of open space and parks with stunning views of the Flatirons rock formations.

Join the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), where world-class scientists, engineers, and experts are accelerating energy innovation through breakthrough research and systems integration. From our mission to our collaborative culture, NLR stands out in the research community for its commitment to an affordable and secure energy future. Spanning foundational science to applied systems engineering and analysis, we focus on solving complex challenges to deliver advanced, secure, reliable, and cost-effective energy solutions.

About the role

NLR is seeking a graduate fall intern to design and optimize distributed hybrid energy systems focused on producing chemical end-uses. This will feature integration of technologies across generation, storage, the distribution system, and chemical end-uses. The intern will design and run analyses and optimizations of distributed hybrid energy systems to determine optimal sizing technically and economically. The researcher will need to deploy scalable strategies for varying hybrid plant sizes in real-time using simulation tools including H2Integrate.

The researcher is expected to demonstrate a broad understanding and wide application of engineering principles, theories, and concepts as well as general knowledge of hybrid energy-related disciplines and applications. The researcher will work with a variety of customers including federal, state, and industry partners. The successful candidate will have excellent writing, interpersonal, and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and run analyses and optimizations of distributed hybrid energy systems to determine optimal sizing technically and economically.
• Deploy scalable strategies for varying hybrid plant sizes in real-time.
• Support the development of new work proposals, preparations, and reviews.
• Publish results in technical journals/conference proceedings and present work at conferences, symposia, and sponsor review meetings.

Qualifications

• Minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.
• Undergraduate: Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a bachelor’s degree program from an accredited institution.
• Post Undergraduate: Earned a bachelor’s degree within the past 12 months. Eligible for an internship period of up to one year.
• Graduate: Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a master’s degree program from an accredited institution.
• Post Graduate: Earned a master’s degree within the past 12 months. Eligible for an internship period of up to one year.
• Graduate + PhD: Completed master’s degree and enrolled as PhD student from an accredited institution.

Applicants are responsible for uploading official or unofficial school transcripts as part of the application process. If selected for the position, a letter of recommendation will be required as part of the hiring process. Must meet educational requirements prior to employment start date.

Skills

• Experience with distributed hybrid energy system design and modeling chemical processes such as ammonia (preferred).
• Experience with Python programming languages and comfort working in high-performance computing environments (preferred).
• Excellent writing, interpersonal, and communication skills.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match*.
• Sick leave (where required by law).
• Eligibility for performance-, merit-, and achievement-based awards that include a monetary component (some positions).
• Relocation expense reimbursement (some positions).

*Internships projected to be less than 20 hours per week are not eligible for medical, dental, or vision benefits.

Pay

Annual Salary Range: $44,500 - $71,200 (based on full-time 40 hours per week). NLR takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, expected quality and quantity of work, required travel (if any), external market and internal value, including seniority and merit systems, and internal pay alignment when determining the salary level for potential new employees.

Schedule

40 hours per week.

NLR is subject to Department of Energy (DOE) access restrictions. All employees must be able to obtain and maintain a federal Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card as required by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12), which includes a favorable background investigation. Intern assignments extending beyond six months will be subject to this requirement.