Description

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP)

program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic

institutions on specific projects of mutual interest and thus requires that such institutions be the recipients

of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific

research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the

scientific research of the collaboration.

Research Title:

Engineering for a Circular Economy

The work will entail:

NIST’s Engineering Lab (EL) Systems Integration Division, Life Cycle Engineering Group is seeking a

researcher in product design for microelectronic circularity. We are expanding our research to develop

ways of maximizing the value of U.S. microelectronics and semiconductors based on principles of

circular economy. Microelectronics are valued for their processing capabilities and the materials that

they contain. Our team, together with our external partners, is developing new practices for design that

will better enable recovery.

The design research aspects of the work explore new ways to integrate circularity assessment into the

design of products containing microelectronics. We are developing new metrics and measurement

methods to allow designers to assess and plan for the recoverability of these complex products.

Additionally, this work focuses on the identification of information and data needs to provide decision-

support to consumers and enable end-of-life stakeholders (recyclers, municipalities, waste managers,

infrastructure providers) that improve the volume of valuable microelectronics to be recovered.

The methods developed in this work will be used to inform future product design and may be a basis for

corporate or open standards. We will drive the state of the art forward with advanced techniques in life

cycle assessment, simulation, and AI- and data-driven design. Results will include a suite of decision

support tools (metrics, models, and published research) and new standards to improve recovery

outcomes, thereby strengthening supply chain resiliency via new material sources, and enabling

stakeholders to respond dynamically to material availability challenges in the future.

We seek experienced research candidates with a background in products design, micro and nano

engineering, and/or supply-chain interoperability, and a Ph.D. (preferred), M.S. and/or related

experience with a record of research in peer-reviewed publications. US citizenship needed.

Requirements

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

Conduct a landscape survey documenting the state of the art in chip and microelectronic design,

including existing efforts for reuse, recycling and refurbishment and current methods to quantify

financial and environmental impact

Partner will stakeholders in the semiconductor ecosystem to develop and test fit-for-purpose

recovery metrics

Outline best design practices for circular and sustainable microelectronic products and support

the development of documentary standards to disseminate findings

Integrate end of life data with computational design to enable better recovery outcomes for

microelectronics

Publish and present findings through internal reports, peer-reviewed conferences, and academic

journals

Qualifications

Desired skills/technical knowledge include a combination from the following:

Understanding of micro/nano fabrication processes for chips and first-principle modeling

Experience with systems thinking and supply chain modeling

Familiarity with LCA and related forms of assessment used to evaluate environmental

performance of products

Programming, data analysis and visualization with Python and/or MATLAB

Experience or study of product design and engineering principles for sustainability.

Privacy Act Statement

Authority: 15 U.S.C. § 278g-1(e)(1) and (e)(3) and 15 U.S.C. § 272(b) and (c)

Purpose: The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) hosts the Professional Research

Experience Program (PREP) which is designed to provide valuable laboratory experience and financial

assistance to undergraduates, post-bachelor’s degree holders, graduate students, master’s degree

holders, postdocs, and faculty.

PREP is a 5-year cooperative agreement between NIST laboratories and participating PREP Universities

to establish a collaborative research relationship between NIST and U.S. institutions of higher educationin the following disciplines including (but may not be limited to) biochemistry, biological sciences,

chemistry, computer science, engineering, electronics, materials science, mathematics, nanoscale

science, neutron science, physical science, physics, and statistics. This collection of information is

needed to facilitate administrative functions of the PREP Program.

Routine Uses: NIST will use the information collected to perform the requisite reviews of the

applications to determine eligibility, and to meet programmatic requirements. Disclosure of this

information is also subject to all the published routine uses as identified in the Privacy Act System of

Records Notices: NIST-1: NIST Associates.

Disclosure: Furnishing this information is voluntary. When you submit the form, you are indicating your

voluntary consent for NIST to use of the information you submit for the purpose stated. By applying to a

CHIPS-funded PREP opportunity, you also acknowledge that participation in the project requires signing a

Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) prior to beginning any work.