Thermal Mechanical Engineer

Job Title

Thermal Mechanical Engineer

Role Summary

As a Thermal Mechanical Engineer on the system engineering team, you will perform structural and thermal simulations to optimize electro-optical sub-assemblies and improve the performance and reliability of quantum computer subsystems.

You will combine simulation, prototype test data, and hardware observations to drive design decisions for manufacturability and long-term reliability in a semiconductor photonics environment.

Experience Level

Mid-level — requires 5+ years of hands-on modeling and simulation experience (semiconductor industry preferred).

Responsibilities

Deliver simulation-driven design, verification, and reliability assessments across component, package, and system levels.

• Develop detailed FEA/CFD models of components, packages, optical-electronic modules, and assemblies using ANSYS, COMSOL, or equivalent tools.
• Correlate simulation results with prototype test data and hardware observations to improve model fidelity and support design decisions.
• Perform warpage and deformation analyses for multi-material assemblies, accounting for thermal expansion mismatch and nonlinear material behavior.
• Develop thermal cycling and mechanical fatigue models (including creep and stress relaxation) to predict long-term reliability and interface degradation.
• Identify mechanical risk drivers and recommend design, material, or process changes to improve robustness, manufacturability, and yield.
• Investigate failures related to electro-optical assemblies and support FMEA, tolerance analyses, and component selection.
• Build and automate end-to-end simulation workflows and document results in technical reports and design reviews.

Requirements

Key technical qualifications and skills. "Must-have" items are essential; "Nice-to-have" items are preferred.

• Must-have: 5+ years of hands-on modeling and simulation in the semiconductor industry; proficiency with ANSYS (Mechanical, Icepak, Fluent), COMSOL, or equivalent, including nonlinear and transient analyses.
• Must-have: Strong understanding of thermal conduction, convective heat transfer, and solid mechanics (stress, strain, fatigue, creep, constitutive material models).
• Must-have: Experience correlating FEA/CFD results with lab test data and prototype measurements.
• Must-have: Ability to perform warpage/deformation analysis for multi-material assemblies and to develop thermal cycling and mechanical fatigue models.
• Nice-to-have: Experience with Ansys AEDT, Ansys Sherlock, SOC thermal-mechanical analysis, and optical structural analysis.
• Nice-to-have: Knowledge of semiconductor packaging, solder joint reliability modeling, and common optical component specifications.

Education Requirements

M.Sc. or Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a related technical field (as stated in the posting).

About the Company

Company: PsiQuantum

Headquarters: Palo Alto, CA, United States

PsiQuantum develops silicon-photonic quantum computers aimed at building million-qubit, fault-tolerant systems. Founded in 2016, the company combines semiconductor manufacturing processes, photonic hardware, and quantum software to scale quantum systems for commercial and government applications.