Design Engineer

Job Title

Design Engineer

Role Summary

Perform finite-element and thermo-mechanical modeling of advanced semiconductor packages to evaluate reliability and thermal performance. Work within a multidisciplinary packaging simulation team to develop models, analyze results, and deliver concise technical reports and recommendations.

Role includes collaboration with experimental teams and occasional travel (~10%).

Experience Level

Mid-level. The role expects demonstrable hands-on experience with finite element analysis, thermo-mechanical modeling, and scripting for data analysis and automation; no specific years of experience were stated.

Responsibilities

Key responsibilities include modeling, analysis, validation, and knowledge sharing:

• Develop finite-element models to evaluate thermal and mechanical behavior of semiconductor packages.
• Perform thermo-mechanical reliability modeling for assembly and operating conditions, including process-induced stress, thermal cycling, warpage, and interfacial loading.
• Simulate stress, strain, warpage, interfacial loading, and thermal responses for flip-chip, fan-out, 2.5D/3D IC, chiplet, and TSV-based packages.
• Build and refine thermal models to analyze temperature distribution and heat flow with respect to materials and geometry.
• Perform mesh convergence, sensitivity analyses, parameter sweeps, and design-of-experiment studies; identify dominant physical drivers.
• Collect material properties and package/process inputs from literature, experiments, and cross-functional partners; document assumptions and sources.
• Compare simulation results with analytical solutions, experiments, or benchmarks and investigate discrepancies.
• Create scripts, templates, and post-processing utilities to improve repeatability and efficiency.
• Prepare concise technical reports and presentations describing methods, results, limitations, and recommended next steps.
• Contribute to team knowledge sharing, model documentation, and continuous improvement of simulation practices.

Requirements

Must-have technical skills and capabilities; preferred items listed separately.

• Must-have: Strong foundation in finite element methods, solid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and mechanics of materials.
• Must-have: Hands-on experience with ANSYS, Abaqus, COMSOL, or an equivalent FEA platform.
• Must-have: Ability to formulate engineering problems, define boundary conditions, evaluate numerical quality, and interpret results using physical reasoning.
• Must-have: Experience with data analysis or scripting using Python, MATLAB, or similar languages; ability to create automation and post-processing scripts.
• Must-have: Clear written and verbal communication skills and ability to collaborate in a multidisciplinary environment.
• Nice-to-have: Prior research or project experience in electronics packaging, composite materials, fracture or interface mechanics, polymers, reliability, or thermal management.
• Nice-to-have: Exposure to advanced packaging technologies such as FOWLP, hybrid bonding, chiplets, HBM, TSVs, or 2.5D/3D integration.

Education Requirements

Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, Applied Mechanics, Applied Physics, or a closely related field; degree completed recently or expected before start date.

About the Company

Company: Applied Materials

Headquarters: Santa Clara, CA, United States

Global leader in materials engineering solutions for the semiconductor and display industries, designing, manufacturing, and servicing equipment used to produce chips and advanced displays worldwide. Enables customers' production of semiconductor devices and display technologies and supports innovations like AI and IoT.