Chemical/Environmental Engineer
Join a team dedicated to fighting climate change through the continued development and implementation of a novel carbon capture and storage technology. This team is currently based out of the Yale Carbon Containment Lab.
CREW is a distributed and flexible carbon dioxide removal technology that utilizes containerized enhanced weathering for permanent, low-cost, and verifiable storage. CREW leverages the well-established, natural weathering process that removes CO2, accelerating these reactions in an engineered reactor system that allows for rapid and verifiable CO2 capture. CREW is able to store carbon permanently at scale and at low cost and is rapidly deployable and more distributed relative to subsurface geologic storage. CREW technology (patent pending) was developed by researchers at Yale’s Earth and Planetary Sciences and the Yale Carbon Containment Lab.
To date, the CREW technology has been prototyped and tested at the lab scale and will be piloted at scale this year. We are looking to hire a Chemical/Environmental Engineer who will work with our science team to push the development and optimization of CREW’s pilot reactor system; be responsible for building a process simulation and predictive reactive transport modeling framework; and aid in the continued deployment and honing of the technology at scale. This person will be a key member of the science team and will lead efforts to model and optimize fluid-rock reactions in the CREW system. The ideal candidate will have experience modeling reactive flow chemistry; engineering and improving hardware and processes; interfacing with sophisticated engineering teams, manufacturers, and vendors; and taking physical technology from theory to deployment.
While we are looking for someone with these skills, you do not have to have all the listed qualifications to be a great addition to our team. Please reach out if you have many of the listed qualifications, are eager to learn new skills and be involved in the climate tech space, and have a solid design, engineering, and problem-solving skills.
The location for the position is flexible, although significant time in New Haven, CT will be required in the near term. The position is for a full-time consultant and self-insurance is required. Salary will be commensurate with experience. Questions around insurance, work location, and benefits can be answered by chosen candidates. The initial contract length will be 12-24 months; however, we intend to have the ideal candidate become a core member of the CREW team long-term.
Key Responsibilities
- Oversee build and operation of pilot (field-deployed) reactor system, including coordinating with external engineering firms
- Work across the pilot and lab scale to develop models that inform system design and optimization, and build and test design modifications
- Model and design multicomponent reaction systems, including solid-liquid, gas-liquid, and solid-gas reactions
- With the support of the CREW team and external engineering, model and build reactor system, including filtration, settling, clarification, pumping, and flow regime design
- Assist with process development, process flow diagrams, and piping and instrumentation diagrams
- Assess construction materials for system components exposed to corrosive and hazardous liquids, solids, and for gasses that may be pressurized (1-10 bar)
- Interface with vendors and manufacturers, including purchasing and evaluating contracts for services and hardware
- Collaborate with the science team and perform technical communications, including internal and external facing presentations and reports
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Chemical, Environmental, or Process Engineering (or similar field)
- 2 years of work experience in engineering or early-stage technologies
- Experience with computer modeling such as in Python, R, or Matlab
- Strong understanding of physics, chemistry, and engineering concepts, including fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and chemical kinetics
- Familiarity with designing, building, and/or operating equipment in the water treatment, chemicals, pharmaceutical, energy, or similar fields
Ideal Qualifications
- Master's or PhD degree in Chemical, Environmental, or Process Engineering
- 4+ years of work experience, preferably in fast-growing technology or hardware companies and scaling early-stage processes
- Skilled in process simulation and reactive transport software such as Aspen, CHEMCAD, ANSYS Fluent, COMSOL, Geochemist’s Workbench
- Extensive experience designing and/or using hardware, including reactor design, sensor deployment, and controls design
- Experience in translating theoretical design, calculations, and lab-scaled experimental data into real-world processes and equipment
- Experience partnering with third parties in complex engineering projects surrounding technology, hardware, infrastructure, and/or design
- Entrepreneurial spirit and desire to be part of a high-performing team
Bonus Qualifications
- Management experience leading an engineering team
- Experience engineering water systems, including pumping, filtration/clarification, and liquid-gas equilibration
If interested, please submit your resume/CV to carboncontainment.lab@yale.edu.
Questions? Email us at carboncontainment.lab@yale.edu.