Founding Mechanical Engineer — Simulation & Prototype Development

*SinterNova, Inc. | Pre-Seed Deep-Tech Startup | Pennsylvania / Remote* *Compensation: Milestone-Based Sweat Equity — No Initial Salary* About SinterNova SinterNova is an early-stage advanced manufacturing company developing a new approach to recovering degraded PA12 powder used in industrial Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). We are building our first benchtop proof-of-concept system around a difficult engineering question: *Can controlled mechanical, thermal, ultrasonic, and photonic energy be used together to restore processability to degraded PA12 while minimizing additional polymer degradation?* We are looking for an experienced mechanical engineer who is excited by that question and wants to help determine whether the concept works—not simply execute a predefined engineering assignment. The Opportunity This is a *founding-stage engineering role working directly with the Founder/PI and a small technical team*. The right engineer will help translate the process concept into simulation, mechanical design, and ultimately physical prototype behavior. You will have significant influence over how the first system is modeled, designed, tested, and improved. This is *not currently a salaried or hourly consulting position*. Initial compensation is structured as *milestone-based equity for defined technical deliverables*. The intent is to transition key contributors into paid roles ($80-$120 per-hour) as funding permits. This opportunity is best suited for an engineer who: * Enjoys solving difficult problems where the answer is not already known. * Wants meaningful technical ownership rather than narrowly defined contract work. * Is comfortable working with an early-stage company before institutional funding. * Sees equity as participation in the value they are helping create. * Has enough professional flexibility to contribute consistently alongside other commitments. What You Will Work On You will work closely with the founder and engineering team to help develop the first SinterNova proof-of-concept system, including: * Multiphysics simulation of thermal, mechanical, fluid-flow, and heat-transfer behavior. * Modeling polymer melt behavior through the conditioning and extrusion stages. * Evaluating pressure, temperature, flow, geometry, and energy-transfer relationships. * Supporting design of the ultrasonic plasticization/melt section. * Modeling the interaction between the melt zone and downstream optical/photonic conditioning region. * Evaluating flow through extrusion interfaces. * Identifying mechanical and thermal bottlenecks before hardware is fabricated. * Translating simulation results into practical design changes. * Supporting prototype architecture, component selection, tolerances, materials, and manufacturability. * Reviewing and contributing to SolidWorks designs developed by the mechanical team. * Helping establish simulation assumptions, boundary conditions, test cases, and validation criteria. * Comparing simulation results against physical prototype data as testing begins. You will not simply be handed drawings to analyze. We want someone capable of asking: *“Is this physically going to work—and if not, what should we change?”* Software & Technical Environment Strong familiarity with *SolidWorks* is highly desirable, including the ability to work directly with existing mechanical models and assemblies. Experience with one or more advanced simulation environments is strongly preferred, including: * *SolidWorks Simulation / Flow Simulation* * COMSOL Multiphysics * ANSYS Mechanical * ANSYS Fluent or similar CFD tools * Thermal and nonlinear mechanical FEA * Coupled thermal-fluid or thermal-structural modeling Experience transferring simulation findings into manufacturable CAD geometry is particularly valuable. Our broader engineering team is also working with tools including *SolidWorks, KiCad, VS Code, and Texas Instruments Code Composer Studio*, so familiarity working alongside embedded controls and instrumentation engineers is helpful. Ideal Background We are particularly interested in engineers with experience in several of the following: * 4+ years of mechanical engineering experience preferred. * *Advanced mechanical simulation or multiphysics modeling*. * Polymer processing. * *Extrusion or melt-flow systems*. * Heat transfer and thermal management. * CFD. * FEA. * *Ultrasonic systems or high-frequency mechanical systems*. * Pressure-driven flow. * Process equipment. * Additive manufacturing. * Industrial machine design. * Prototype development and experimental validation. Experience in every area is *not required*. We care more about deep engineering judgment, simulation capability, curiosity, and the ability to work through an unconventional problem. *Initial Milestone* The initial engagement will center on developing a defensible simulation framework for the first process node. The engineer should be able to help answer questions such as: * Where are the major thermal and mechanical constraints? * What pressure and temperature conditions are required for stable material movement? * Where are excessive shear or thermal exposure likely to occur? * How sensitive is the design to geometry and boundary conditions? * Which design variables should be tested physically first? * What does the simulation suggest we change before committing to hardware? The milestone will have clearly defined deliverables and an *agreed equity award* before work begins. Compensation Structure *Pre-funding compensation is milestone-based equity rather than hourly cash compensation.* Equity is tied to clearly defined engineering deliverables and documented through formal company agreements. Future paid engineering or consulting work will become available following financing, grant funding, or other capitalization, but *candidates should apply based on the current equity-based structure rather than an expectation of immediate cash compensation*. Who Should Apply Please apply if you are the kind of engineer who sees an unsolved technical problem and immediately starts thinking about how you would model it, break it apart, test it, and prove or disprove the underlying assumptions. This may be a particularly good fit for: * An experienced engineer who wants exposure to building a deep-tech company from the proof-of-concept stage. * A senior engineer looking for a meaningful technical side project. * Someone who has considered joining or founding a startup but does not want to leave their primary position yet. * An engineer motivated by technical ownership and long-term upside. *If you are primarily looking for immediate hourly consulting work, this position will probably not be the right fit at this stage.* How to Apply Along with your resume, it will be helpful to briefly answer the following: *1. What is the most technically difficult simulation or mechanical modeling problem you have personally worked on?* *2. Which simulation packages have you used hands-on, and at what level of proficiency?* *3. Have you ever taken a system from simulation or CAD into a physical prototype? What happened?* *4. What interests you about solving an early-stage polymer-processing problem where the technical outcome is not yet known?* *5. Are you comfortable with an initial milestone being compensated through equity rather than hourly or salaried compensation?* SinterNova, Inc. is building its technical team around engineers who want to help discover the answer—not simply execute the assignment. Pay: $80.00 - $120.00 per hour Expected hours: 5.0 – 10.0 per week Work Location: Remote