Nuclear Engineer - Diagnostics

About Helion

We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone.

Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised over $1 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors SoftBank and Lightspeed to propel us forward. Our last prototype, Trenta, completed 10,000 high-power pulses and reached plasma temperatures of 100 million degrees Celsius (9 keV). We are now operating Polaris, our next prototype on the path to the world's first fusion power plant.

This is a pivotal time to join Helion. You will tackle real-world challenges with a team that prizes urgency, rigor, ownership, and a commitment to delivering hard truths – values essential to achieving what no one has before. Together, we will change the future of energy, because the world can't wait.

What You Will Be Doing:

You will drive innovative data analyses and tools on the Nuclear Science team. You will extract information from diagnostics, write predictive neural nets for plasma simulation tools, and drive design by performing optimizations over multiple variables. Your expertise is data analysis and scripting, balanced with a knack for technical breadth. You will report to the Nuclear Engineering Manager in this onsite role located at our Everett, WA office.

You Will:

- Develop neural nets to predict plasma simulation outputs from inputs. Adapt such neural nets to be training tools for new operators to develop intuition on FRC formation and translation

- Write algorithms to extract information from noisy diagnostic data. E.g., recover individual pulse information from piled-up signals

- Perform multivariate optimizations as part of design processes and data analysis. E.g., optimize machine operating settings, machine architecture trades, or shield designs parameters

- Operate and analyze nuclear and plasma diagnostics on test beds and Helion's fusion systems: Polaris and Orion

- Run and analyze MHD or PIC plasma simulation codes

Required Skills:

- Master's degree in nuclear engineering, plasma physics, or equivalent experience documented by a presentation at a technical conference

- 3+ years of experience writing scripts to analyze data using Python, MATLAB, C++, or a similar language. Techniques include vectorization, reading/writing data files in loops, and version control using tools such as SVN or git repositories

- Experience solving multivariate optimization problems using methods such as gradient descent or genetic algorithms

- Experience building neural networks to predict outputs from simulation inputs or to process noisy diagnostic data

- Hands-on experience analyzing diagnostic data or running plasma simulation codes

- Diagnostic data experience includes: processing signals from digitizers/oscilloscopes, performing data cleaning (e.g., pile-up rejection), and deriving physical insights

- Plasma code experience including: running MHD or PIC codes, modifying input files, operating in Linux environments, and analyzing raw outputs to extract plasma parameters

#LI-TM1 #LI-Onsite

Benefits

Our total compensation package includes benefits, including but not limited to:

- Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families

- 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)

- 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break

- Up to 5% employer 401(k) match

- Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance

- Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)

- Annual wellness stipend

Helion is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the interview process, please let us know.