Graduate (Summer) Intern – Mathematical Optimization

Graduate (Summer) Intern – Mathematical Optimization

Location

CO – Golden

Position Type

Intern (Fixed Term)

Hours Per Week

40

COVID-19 Safety Protocols

Employment at NREL is contingent upon your compliance with all NREL and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) safety protocols and mitigation efforts directed at the COVID-19 pandemic.

Working at NREL

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Golden, Colorado is the nation’s primary laboratory for research and development of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

From day one at NREL, you’ll connect with coworkers driven by the same mission to save the planet. By joining an organization that values a supportive, inclusive, and flexible work environment, you’ll have the opportunity to engage through our eight employee resource groups, numerous employee-driven clubs, and learning and professional development classes.

NREL supports inclusive, diverse, and unbiased hiring practices that promote creativity and innovation. By collaborating with organizations that focus on diverse talent pools, reaching out to underrepresented demographics, and providing an inclusive application and interview process, our Talent Acquisition team aims to hear all voices equally. We strive to attract a highly diverse workforce and create a culture where every employee feels welcomed and respected and they can be their authentic selves.

Our planet needs us! Learn about NREL’s critical objectives, and see how NREL is focused on saving the planet.

Note: Research suggests that potential job seekers may self-select out of opportunities if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who is interested in this opportunity to apply. We seek dedicated people who believe they have the skills and ambition to succeed at NREL to apply for this role.

Job Description

The AI, Learning and Intelligent Systems (ALIS) Group in the NREL Computational Science Center has an opening for a graduate student researcher in Mathematical Optimization for Process Systems Engineering, specifically as applied to water treatment systems. The researcher will assist in developing reduced-order piecewise linear surrogate models for complex water treatment systems. The researcher will assess the tradeoffs between computational performance and fidelity of these surrogate models and examine and quantify the performance of different mathematically equivalent formulations. Finally, the researcher will consider modeling extensions (e.g., stochastic, robust, dynamic, discrete) enabled by the developed reduced-order surrogate models.

We are looking for a dynamic, motivated researcher with a strong technical background and an interest in the mission of NREL. The successful candidate will collaborate with NREL staff and researchers to design and implement optimization-based methods for water treatment systems.

Responsibilities Include

• Assist in developing piecewise linear surrogate models for water treatment systems.
• Collaborate with NREL researchers to use water treatment modeling and simulations to accurately represent the trade-offs in water treatment processes.
• Process and visualize results from simulation and optimization scenarios to inform design and operational decisions.
• Author, present and assist in the preparation of technical papers, reports and conference proceedings on topics related to surrogate modelling and water treatment modelling.

Basic Qualifications

Must be enrolled as a full-time student in a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD degree program, or graduated in the past 12 months from an accredited institution. Internship period cannot exceed 12 months past graduation. Minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average.

Please Note

• You will need to upload official or unofficial school transcripts as part of the application process.
• If selected for position, a letter of recommendation will be required as part of the hiring process.

Additional Required Qualifications

• Candidates should have demonstrated interest or experience in water treatment train modeling and/or process systems engineering generally.
• Candidates should have experience with algebraic modeling.
• Candidates should have a strong foundation in coding, particularly with Python.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Pyomo
• Experience with the IDAES process systems engineering framework
• Experience with commercial and/or open source mixed-integer optimization solvers (e.g., CPLEX, Gurobi, Xpress, CBC, SCIP)
• Experience working with diverse, inclusive, and cross-disciplinary research teams

Annual Salary Range (based on full-time 40 hours per week)

Job Profile: Graduate I / Annual Salary Range: $41,600 – $66,600

NREL takes into consideration a candidate’s education, training, and experience, as well as the position’s work location, 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. In compliance with the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, a potential new employee’s salary history will not be used in compensation decisions.

Benefits Summary

Benefits include medical, dental, and vision insurance; 403(b) Employee Savings Plan with employer match*; and sick leave (where required by law). NREL employees may be eligible for, but are not guaranteed, performance-, merit-, and achievement- based awards that include a monetary component. Some positions may be eligible for relocation expense reimbursement. Internships projected to be less than 20 hours per week are not eligible for medical, dental, or vision benefits.

• Based on eligibility rules

Submission Guidelines

Please note that in order to be considered an applicant for any position at NREL you must submit an application form for each position for which you believe you are qualified. Applications are not kept on file for future positions. Please include a cover letter and resume with each position application.

EEO Policy

NREL is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard basis of age (40 and over), color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, national origin/ancestry, race, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding), sexual orientation, and any other applicable status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

EEO is the Law | Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination | Reasonable Accommodations

E-Verify www.dhs.gov/E-Verify|For information about right to work, click here for English or here for Spanish.

E-Verify is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This business uses E-Verify in its hiring practices to achieve a lawful workforce.