[Neutron] Computer Scientist/Computer Engineer opportunity at NCNR

[Robert Shirley]

Computer Scientist/Computer Engineer

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Center for Neutron
Research (NCNR) in Gaithersburg, MD is seeking candidates for full time or
part time work in computer software development for data acquisition and
processing related to materials research carried out with facilities at the
NCNR.

The NCNR is a national user facility that develops and makes available to
the general scientific community advanced instrumentation for materials
research using beams of cold neutrons. The laboratory serves almost 2000
guest scientists per year with about 20 experiment stations. More
information about the NCNR can be found at the web site
http://www.ncnr.nist.gov.  

The NCNR is in the process of a facility-wide upgrade of the data
acquisition systems used on its neutron scattering instruments.  Major
effort is needed for:  
.	Development of user interfaces and class libraries using Java,
Python and C/C++.
.	Creating use cases, UML diagrams and wire frames from stakeholder
requirements.
.	Aid in the development of test plans.
.	Performing unit and system level testing.
.	To provide software support maintenance and user documentation for
instrument control software. 
This software is required to provide robust, responsive, real-time control
of instrument hardware, (e.g. servo and stepping motors, encoders, rotary
and translation stages, multiple neutron counters, process controllers,
etc.), and to provide an intuitive, easy-to-use graphical interface for
displaying, managing and processing neutron scattering data.  Assistance is
also needed in the development of training materials and courses to enable
users and instrument scientists to customize the software for instrument
specific purposes. 

To be considered, individuals must have, or be working toward, a bachelor's
degree in computer science, mathematics or a physical science and possess
good written and verbal communication skills. Candidates without a computer
science degree must have completed computer science course work or have
experience working as a software engineer. The best candidates will also
have experience in computer systems programming, embedded systems
programming, network programming, object oriented design and development in
C/C++, Python, and Java on the Linux and Windows platforms. 

Depending on experience, compensation is in the range from $25/hour to
$50/hour, plus benefits for full time work.


Expressions of interest may be directed by email to rshirley at nist.gov.