Senior Scientific Engineering Associate (Grid Integration Group)

Berkeley Lab’s Energy Storage & Distributed Resources (ESDR) Division has an opening for a Senior Scientific Engineering Associate to join the Grid Integration Group!

In this role, you will provide technical expertise and will broadly apply principals, theories, and technical concepts for the intersection of machine learning/data science and the electric power grid. This position will support new and existing projects in the application of artificial intelligence techniques to address problems in electric grid cybersecurity, asset management, and in the design of remedial action schemes. 

What You Will Do:

• Develop mathematical models of the behavior of different components of the electric grid, including solar photovoltaic systems, battery storage systems, protection and regulation systems.

• Encoding of mathematical models of electric grid components into compute code to conduct power flow simulations.

• Design, test, and refine optimal control strategies for managing the behavior of renewable generation sources and battery storage systems.

• Apply image segmentation and clustering techniques on utility datasets to identify trends and patterns that can be used to improve utility asset management and cybersecurity.

• Provide technical support to the team members.

• Collaborate with other GIG scientists, sponsors and other institutions including U.S. Department of Energy and California Energy Commission.

• Interface with Principal Investigators, program leaders, sponsors, external collaborators and stakeholders.

• Document work and results in the form of journal papers, conference proceedings, and technical reports in collaboration with the team.

• Present work and results at scientific meetings.

• May direct the work of technical support staff or students.

What is Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, or a related disciple and a minimum of 2 years of related technical experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Experience in electric grid research and optimal control/reinforcement learning.

• Strong understanding in simulating the operation of electric power systems and experience with popular tools for machine learning, data science, and optimal control.

• Knowledge of modeling discrete and continuous time dynamic systems, control and optimization theory.

• Proficiencies in Python and TensorFlow.

• Demonstrated ability to interpret data and compose follow-up experiments/analyses.

• Ability to provide creative solutions to the problems.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

What We Desire:

• Master’s Degree in Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, or a related disciple.

• Knowledge of popular analytical tools and software packages, including: Matlab (CVX), C++, Python (CVX, scikit-learn), Julia, RLlib/Ray.

• Experience designing optimal control approaches for managing distributed energy resources.

• Familiarity with reinforcement learning and stochastic optimization.

• Experience working with electric distribution grid power flow simulation tools, including: OpenDSS and GridLAB-D.

The posting shall remain open until the position is filled, however for full consideration, please apply by close of business on February 24, 2020.

Notes:

• This is a full time, M-F, exempt from overtime pay (monthly paid), 1 year, Term appointment with the possibility of extension for up to a maximum of 5 years total based upon satisfactory job performance, continuing availability of funds and ongoing operational needs.

• Salary is commensurate with experience.

• This position may be subject to a background check. Any convictions will be evaluated to determine if they directly relate to the responsibilities and requirements of the position. Having a conviction history will not automatically disqualify an applicant from being considered for employment.

• Work will be primarily performed at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA.

Learn About Us:

Berkeley Lab (LBNL) addresses the world’s most urgent scientific challenges by advancing sustainable energy, protecting human health, creating new materials, and revealing the origin and fate of the universe. Founded in 1931, Berkeley Lab’s scientific expertise has been recognized with 13 Nobel prizes. The University of California manages Berkeley Lab for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

Working at Berkeley Lab has many rewards including a competitive compensation program, excellent health and welfare programs, a retirement program that is second to none, and outstanding development opportunities.  To view information about the many rewards that are offered at Berkeley Lab- Click Here.

Equal Employment Opportunity: Berkeley Lab is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status. Berkeley Lab is in compliance with the Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision under 41 CFR 60-1.4.  Click here to view the poster and supplement: "Equal Employment Opportunity is the Law."

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory encourages applications from women, minorities, veterans, and other underrepresented groups presently considering scientific research careers.