CFD Engineer

CFD Engineer - This position is responsible for leading the computational fluid dynamics simulation programs for automotive interior thermal systems, covering HVAC air-distribution registers, defroster ducts, floor outlets, and full-cabin thermal comfort analysis — from early concept through production sign-off.

Responsibilities

• Develop steady-state and transient thermal analyses covering summer heat soak, pull-down, and winter warm-up scenarios.- Simulate occupant thermal comfort using Fanger PMV/PPD indices and advanced human thermal models (e.g., THESEUS-FE, ThermoAnalytics RadTherm).- Model conjugate heat transfer (CHT) across HVAC casings, registers, evaporator/heater cores, and EV battery thermal conditioning systems.- Analyze windshield and rear-window demist and defrost performance in compliance with FMVSS 103 and ECE R78.- Generate surface and volume meshes and maintain consistent mesh quality standards across vehicle programs.- Establish and enforce simulation best-practice guidelines, mesh sensitivity studies, and validation protocols.- Act as the technical interface between the HVAC system team, BIW team, and exterior aero CFD team to ensure coherent cabin boundary conditions.- Partner with experimental engineers to design correlation tests including PIV, hot-wire anemometry, and thermal-comfort manikin testing.- Simulate thermal management for high-voltage battery packs, power electronics cooling, and cabin heat-pump integration for EV programs.- Evaluate range-impact trade-offs between HVAC load and EV battery energy budget through co-simulation with 1D system tools (GT-Suite, AMESim, Kuli).- Drive simulation automation and workflow integration using Python or MATLAB scripting.- Guide and mentor junior and mid-level CFD analysts; review models, results, and technical reports.- Identify and evaluate emerging CFD methods — lattice-Boltzmann, machine-learning surrogates — for potential adoption into the simulation workflow.Qualifications- Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Thermofluids, or equivalent from an ABET-accredited or equivalent programs.- Master's degree or PhD is preferred.- 8 or more years of automotive CFD experience, with 6 or more years of direct, hands-on experience performing HVAC cabin airflow and thermal comfort CFD analysis.- Extensive problem-solving experience in full-cabin thermal analysis using source-path-receiver thinking for both convective airflow and radiant heat transfer.- Expert-level proficiency in at least one commercial CFD solver: ANSYS Fluent, Siemens Star-CCM+, or OpenFOAM.- Experience with pre-processing tools: ANSA, ANSYS Meshing, Pointwise, or equivalent; strong ability to manage large-assembly geometries (>50M cells).- Solid understanding of turbulence modelling (k-ε, k-ω SST, DDES), heat transfer, and multiphase flow physics.- Experience with setting cabin thermal comfort targets, isolation strategy, register velocity and temperature uniformity targets, and window demist performance targets.- Experience with NVH–thermal co-design constraints and HVAC duct acoustic performance is a plus.- Hands-on experience with optimization tools and techniques (adjoint solvers, DoE, surrogate models).- Proficiency in at least one scripting language — Python, MATLAB, or solver journal/macro scripting — for workflow automation.- Working knowledge of FMVSS 103, ECE R78, and SAE thermal comfort standards (SAE J2234, ASHRAE 55).- Automotive OEM or Tier-1 supplier experience in a programs delivery environment (APQP, PPAP).- Knowledge of applying engineering fundamentals in product development.- Ability to work independently from problem identification through to delivered solution.- Strong oral and written cross-functional communication skills.- Acts as a team player and a hands-on problem solver.