Microwave Design Engineer
Job description
Microwave design engineer on the Alpha Heating System team, responsible for the integrated RF and thermo-mechanical design of high-power millimeter-wave components for the Alpha stellarator, including building and testing them in the lab.
At a glance
- Work mode
- Remote
What you'll do
- Provide innovative solutions to complex RF engineering challenges by collaborating closely with physicists to ensure component designs meet the Alpha plasma physics and thermal-mechanical constraints.
- Develop designs and evaluate vendor designs to determine an optimal path to efficiently deliver power to the stellarator and drive down costs.
- Draw from and contribute to the stellarator development process, interfacing RF components with other stellarator systems.
- Contribute to mechanical and thermal analysis and sensitivity studies for component viability under the loads and stresses imposed by vacuum, magnetic fields, temperatures, and MW-scale RF loads.
- Interface with the Alpha project management teams to realize the delivery of RF components and meet tight Proxima timelines.
What we're looking for
- Highly capable RF engineer with experience in millimeter waves and knowledge of the tools and best practices for design of these systems.
- Demonstrated familiarity with RF modeling codes - SURF3D, CST, COMSOL, GdfidL, openEMS, self-developed python codes or others - capable of performing modeling at 200 GHz frequencies.
- Experience validating first-of-a-kind designs with uncertain performance, working as part of a team on multi-scale and multi-physics simulations, testing, and prototyping.
- Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts clearly and persuasively.
- Understanding of quasi optical propagation of millimeter waves; ray tracing and where it breaks down.
Nice to have
- Experience with gyrotrons and associated components - transmission systems, launcher antennas, rf loads.
- Experience with plasma physics.
Your team
Alpha Heating System team
Team building the millimeter wave hardware that initiates a fusion plasma and raises its temperature to greater than 100 million degrees.
How to get hired
- 1Recruiter Interview (30-60 min)
- 2Technical Screening (30 min)
- 3Technical Panel (3x60 min)
Apply
About Proxima Fusion GmbH
Europe's fastest-growing fusion company
Proxima Fusion is Europe's fastest-growing fusion company and the continent's best-funded fusion player, as well as the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP). Backed by over €650M and powered by a growing team across Munich, Zurich, and Oxford, it is developing the hardware and infrastructure needed to deliver the world's first commercial stellarator fusion power plant. Its concept advances the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator through two next-generation machines: Alpha and Stellaris, combining stellarator optimization, advanced computation, machine learning, and high-temperature superconducting magnets.
Mission
Making limitless clean energy a reality by delivering the world's first commercial stellarator fusion power plant.
Key facts
- Fusion energy
- First spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP)
- Backed by over €650M
- Team across Munich, Zurich, and Oxford
- Developing two next-generation machines: Alpha and Stellaris
- Headcount set to roughly 5x in a few years
What they value
- Diversity of thought and experience
- Excellence and ownership across every discipline