Job Description
Job Vacancy : Applied Mathematician/ Numerical Optimization Specialist
Location: Madison (WI), Oak Ridge (TN), Boston (MA) or Vancouver (BC)
Salary: Highly Competitive Plus Benefits
Hours: Full Time
Contract Type: Permanent
Reporting to: Chief Technology Officer
About Type One Energy
Type One Energy Group is mission-driven to provide sustainable, affordable fusion power to the world.
At Type One Energy we believe that our employees are our greatest asset. We are committed to creating a positive and supportive work environment where everyone feels valued and respected. We value diversity, inclusion, and equity, and are committed to providing our employees with the resources and opportunities they need to succeed
The company was formed in 2019 by a team of globally-recognized fusion scientists with a strong track record of building state-of-art stellarator fusion machines, together with veteran business leaders experienced in successfully scaling companies and commercializing energy technologies.
Type One Energy applies proven advanced manufacturing methods, modern computational physics and high-field superconducting magnets to develop its optimized stellarator fusion energy system. Its FusionDirect development program pursues the lowest-risk, shortest-schedule path to a fusion power plant over the coming decade, using a partner-intensive and capital-efficient strategy. For more information, visit https://www.typeoneenergy.com/
About The Role
Type One Energy is seeking an Applied Mathematician who is an expert in scientific computing and high-dimensional optimization. The role of the Applied Mathematician/Numerical Optimization Specialist in the company, will be to contribute to developing the team’s theoretical and computational tools for stellarator optimization.
Our stellarator optmization codes are expected to build on the accomplishments of the stellarator design codes STELLOPT and SIMSOPT. The central responsibility of the numerical optimization specialist will be to develop cutting-edge numerical methods for its optimization libraries and for the physics codes it relies on. The optimization specialist will focus on methods that are well-suited for the high dimensional parameter space the Type One optimization team operates in. Examples of these include gradient based optimization, and design numerical methods for obtaining the required gradients efficiently and with high accuracy. This may involve rewriting and improving parts of legacy physics codes the Type One optimization team uses.
The scientific software used by our team is primarily written in Fortran, C++, Julia, and Python, so candidates with proficiency in these languages will be preferred. Experience with distributed memory (MPI) and shared memory (OpenMP) parallel programming is expected. Knowledge of mixed-language programming is an advantage, and experience with other parallel programming models is also desirable, as is experience with computer architectures based both on GPUs and CPUs. Familiarity with stellarator physics is not necessary.
Responsibilities
· Design and implement optimization methods for large-scale, distributed stellarator optimization using state-of-the-art algorithms using standard software development best practices with rigorous tests.
· Perform optimization calculations and analyze output to identify components for improvement.
· Adapt current physics software for optimization/write new physics software suitable for optimization.
· Work across multiple teams to design flexible interfaces and data structures that meet the needs of integrated physics and engineering optimization.
· Write technical documentation and provide support to other optimization users.
· Present regular status updates and plans for new optimization features.
Required Qualifications and Experience
· Master’s degree in computer science or Applied/Numerical Mathematics with industry experience in optimization.
· A doctorate in Computer Science or Applied/Numerical Mathematics focused on optimization is desirable.
· Expertise in Julia and/or Python.
· Proficiency in C++ and/or Fortran and language interoperability.
· Proficiency in parallel programming models such as MPI and multi-threading.
· Experience with high-performance computing.
· Knowledge of software development best practices.
· Excellent written and oral communication skills.
· Ability to work as part of a dynamic team.
· Proficiency in GPU computing, particularly with Julia is also desirable .
Equality of Opportunity
Type One Energy is An Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status, age or any other federally protected class.
To Apply
To apply for this fantastic position and for more information please visit our website at www.typeoneenergy.com/careers.
Also, as an example of previous work, applicants may submit relevant journal publications they authored, or the source code (or a link to it) and brief description of a scientific computing project they have worked on.