Vacuum Engineer

Vacuum Engineer For Cosmic Explorer Beamtube Experiment

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Caltech's Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) seeks a highly motivated and skilled Vacuum Engineer to join its Cosmic Explorer Beamtube Experiment (CEBEX) team at the Richland, Washington observatory site. LIGO Laboratory is a major National Science Foundation facility dedicated to observing the newly discovered gravitational-wave universe. Jointly operated by the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, LIGO operates the world's leading gravitational observatories near Richland, WA and Baton Rouge, LA, as well as campus R&D centers in Pasadena, CA and Cambridge, MA.

This position is a fulltime in-person role located at LIGO Hanford in Richland, WA. The Laboratory's mission supports the young science of gravitational-wave physics and astronomy and includes observatory operations, analysis and dissemination of astrophysical observations, detector science and technology R&D, gravitational-wave astrophysics, and education and public outreach. LIGO now also leads the effort to expand humanity's gravitational wave horizon with a next-generation observatory, Cosmic Explorer (CE). Slated for construction in the 2030's, CE will be ten times the size and reach of LIGO, able to gather signals from the edge of the observable universe. The selected applicant will join an elite team charged with conceiving, designing, and testing advanced technology for the CE vacuum systems, destined to be the largest ultrahigh vacuum systems ever built. We will exercise and develop this technology in a new, purpose-built UHV research facility, the Cosmic Explorer Beamtube Experiment (CEBEX) Laboratory, located at LIGO Hanford.

This is an Essential Reporting position. In the event of an emergency on campus, an employee designated as essential reporting has essential job skills that are needed for response and recovery and is expected to report to Campus as soon as possible.

Essential Job Duties

• Contribute to the modeling, trade study, design, fabrication, installation, bakeout and characterization of engineering prototypes and technology demonstrators for CE beamtubes up to 40 km in length.
• Operate UHV mate

This position will report to the Vacuum Team Lead at LIGO Hanford Observatory. Collaborate with research scientists and engineers in modeling and investigation of UHV techniques, surface preparation, residual gas characterization, material surface analysis, welding and fabrication technology, structural statics and dynamics, and related disciplines. Assist with procurement of instruments and equipment, technical requirement definition, and quality assurance. Collaborate on writing and delivering research papers and technical presentations.