Thermal Mechanical R&D Engineer for Advanced Cooling Solutions

Join imec’s Thermal Management and Cooling Solutions team and contribute to shape the future of cooling for high-performance systems.

What you will do

The Thermal Management and Cooling Solutions team investigates the thermal behavior and cooling requirements of future electronic systems, ranging from transistors and devices to complete package and system-level solutions. Our work combines advanced simulation methodologies with experimental validation to enable cooling solutions for next-generation compute platforms for AI, high-performance computing, mobile applications, and optical interconnect technologies.

We are looking for a Thermal-Mechanical R&D Engineer to help us grow research activities in the field of large electronic packages, including chiplets, co-packaged optics, and integrated advanced thermal management solutions. Your responsibilities will include:

• Thermal and mechanical modeling of electronics and photonics using commercial software tools and custom simulation codes.
• Focus on multi-scale heat conduction and convection, from device level (µm) to package level (cm), and the development of the required numerical methods.
• Development of multi-physics models for coupled electro-thermal-optical-mechanical simulations.
• Review of simulation results for the latest photonic devices, such as lasers and modulators.
• Innovation of advanced thermal management solutions, such as embedded microchannels (using CFD simulations), integrated heat spreading, and hot-spot mitigation.
• Design of mechanical and fluidic components for the assembly of cooling solutions on our thermal test vehicles.
• Collaboration with experimental teams to design test vehicles and plan experiments, evaluation of experimental results to correlate with simulations, and validation of the models.
• Collaboration with reliability experts to propose improved thermal device designs that meet industry lifetime standards.
• Dissemination of research results to industrial partners and contribution to scientific publications, conferences, and reports.

What we do for you

We offer you the opportunity to join one of the world’s premier research centers in nanotechnology at its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. With your talent, passion and expertise, you’ll become part of a team that makes the impossible possible. Together, we shape the technology that will determine the society of tomorrow.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and proud of our open, multicultural, and informal working environment with ample possibilities to take initiative and show responsibility. We commit to supporting and guiding you in this process; not only with words but also with tangible actions. Through imec.academy, 'our corporate university', we actively invest in your development to further your technical and personal growth. 

We are aware that your valuable contribution makes imec a top player in its field. Your energy and commitment are therefore appreciated by means of a market appropriate salary with many fringe benefits. 

Who you are

• M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Applied Physics, Electrical Engineering, Materials Science, or a related field.
• Strong background in thermal engineering and heat transfer.
• Solid experience with finite element modeling, computational fluid dynamics, and scientific programming.
• Experience in photonics is a strong asset but not strictly required.
• Knowledge of semiconductor devices and electronic packaging is preferred.
• Experience with experimental methods is preferred.
• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.