Process Engineer/Reactor Design Engineer – DTU Physics

CO2 conversion to solids: Increase sustainability by transforming waste materials to new, valuable products

From fundamental understanding of the interactions of water, gas and organic compounds with natural materials, we are developing a fast, cheap, environmentally friendly way to mineralise CO2, to make it stable for millennia. We are building a cross disciplinary team of students and scientists, engineers and business experts to create a startup. We are searching for enthusiastic members.

As a result of recently funded projects, we are building a cross disciplinary research group. We are looking for a reactor design engineer (chemical, process or mechanical engineer or similar).

Our goals are to develop a local method for mineralising CO2, to convert it back to solid, where it will remain stable on the long term, for geologic time. Even with the very best alternative energy sources and conversion of CO2 into products, current air and ocean CO2 levels will need 1,000 to 10,000 years to return to preindustrial levels. To reduce climate change and ocean acidification, CO2 must be converted to solid and put back into the Earth, where it came from in the first place.

At DTU Physics, we are running several projects in parallel, that range from very fundamental investigations of mineral-organic compound-water-gas properties to applying research results and designing an industrial CO2 trapping process. We aim to build a factory pilot CO2 removal system, with eventual commercialisation. The need is urgent, the task is challenging, and a multidisciplinary approach is essential - so our highly motivated team includes students and senior scientists (chemists, physicists, nanoscientists, materials scientists, mineralogists, geoscientists), engineers, business experts, a marketing analyst and others. 

The job
Your overall responsibility is to work with the reactor design team.

Your main tasks are to:

• help build and test small- and large-scale prototypes,
• contribute to research and development in the group, especially where it leads to derivation or optimisation of parameters for the reactors,
• communicate and build a network with the industry partners.

Our expectations of you
We are looking for a dependable, curious, enthusiastic colleague who has an interest in nature, enjoys solving problems and working together, to meet the projects’ goals. 

We expect you to have:

• a solid background in reactor design engineering
• a PhD or an MSc with experience
• technical expertise and joy in building and fixing things
• communication and personal interaction skills
• fluency in Danish and English

We are looking for a team player who can also work independently, who is motivated to help make, and be part of, a dynamic research environment and who has a positive, supportive and creative outlook. 

We offer
DTU is among the leading technical universities of Europe and the top in the Nordic countries. The CO2 projects will unite scientists and engineers from several DTU departments as well as national and international researchers from a number of fields. We work in close cooperation with industry partners. The atmosphere in the group is friendly and supportive, allowing us to produce groundbreaking results, of interest to science and essential for industry. Our mission is to derive new, fundamental understanding and apply it to solve society’s problems.

Salary and appointment terms
Appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC). Salary will be determined by the applicant’s qualifications and in agreement with the relevant union.

The position is full time. It starts as soon as possible and is for 2 years. Starting date is 1 October 2024 (or according to mutual agreement).

The workplace is the DTU Lyngby Campus

Application and contact
Please submit your online application no later than 27 September 2024 (23:59 Danish time) . To apply, please open the link "Apply now", fill out the online application form, and attach all your materials in English in one PDF file. The file must include:

• a cover letter (1 to 1.5 pages) explaining how you are perfect for the position, using your background as examples;
• your CV, including employment history, with dates, career highlights, and other relevant information about you as a person;
• your course list and grades from your university education;
• the name, email and phone number for 3 personal references (do not include letters of reference). 

If you would like additional information about the position, please contact Prof. Susan Stipp, [email protected] .

Applications sent by email or submitted online after the deadline cannot be considered. Applications must be made through the official submission site.

All interested candidates, irrespective of gender, age, race, disability, religion and ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

Technology for people
DTU develops technology for people. With our international elite research and study programmes, we are helping to create a better world and to solve the global challenges formulated in the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU in 1829 with a clear mission to develop and create value using science and engineering to benefit society. That mission lives on today. DTU has 13,500 students and 6,000 employees. We work in an international atmosphere and have an inclusive, evolving, and informal working environment. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland, and we collaborate with the best universities around the world.