Research Chemist (Sustainable Materials)/

AeroShield is making the next generation of energy-efficient windows possible by manufacturing the first ultra-clear, super-insulating aerogel sheets.

Windows are critical elements of comfort and productivity, but in the United States they cost $40 billion in heating and cooling energy. Every year 50+ million new window units add to this growing problem, but what if we were no longer forced to choose between insulating our walls for indoor comfort and accessing natural daylight and beautiful outdoor views? Scientists from MIT have developed breakthrough advances in nanoporous glass, the same material used to insulate spacecraft, to enable a new performance class of windows that offer affordability and efficiency.

New super-insulating material developed by AeroShield is designed to drop inside existing double-pane window manufacturing to create a window 50% more insulating – reducing energy use and improving comfort. Sealing AeroShield inside new windows enables energy payback 5x faster than comparable products. Our thin, lightweight solution can be delivered and integrated into existing window manufacturing, achieving high performance at a low cost to enable $10 billion in energy savings and >500 million tons of CO2 reduction (nearly half of current US homes’ annual emissions)!

We aren’t the only ones excited: founded out of MIT in 2019, AeroShield has established manufacturing R&D activities in Hyde Park (Boston), MA since March of 2020. The company raised over $2.8 M in funding to begin producing prototypes, and is already working with 4 DOE national labs, 2 cleantech incubators, and was selected for the Activate Boston 2020 cohort. AeroShield won MIT’s $100k Clean Energy Prize, Cleantech Open National Grand Prize, and earned the founders and inventors recognition in Forbes 30 Under 30: Energy.

Position Overview

This position offers an exciting opportunity to join the core AeroShield R&D Manufacturing team led by Founder & CTO, Dr. Kyle Wilke to develop and optimize a scalable, economic manufacturing processes. This role will collaborate with national laboratories (NREL, LBL, ORNL, Sandia), receive support from AeroShield’s advisor and mentor network to study and improve our material (optical, thermal, mechanical, and acoustic properties).

The ideal candidate will be familiar with chemistry, materials science & engineering, and ready to get hands-on with our ground-breaking material. We seek a dynamic researcher or engineer to lead exploration of our chemical formulations as we build on laboratory research to translate material and process developments to industrial scale production. Working together with our team, this role will help to optimize our material, create scalable and economic production, and develop a safe and sustainable product.

Responsibilities will include:

• Lead experiments to answer key questions about our production chemistry and material manufacturing that enable faster and safer scale-up
• Collaborate with the R&D team to optimize key properties for material performance and scalability
• Perform a range of lab processes, including making sample materials for development partners
• Develop key metrics for monitoring material optimization and process development

Background & Experience

We are looking for a candidate with lab experience, (i.e., Bachelor + 5 years, Master + 2 years, PhD), but candidates with less experience are also encouraged to apply. The ideal person will have the following experience and qualities:

• Experience in solving problems in material design through chemistry
• Experience with organo-silane chemistry and/or solution-gelation chemistry preferred
• Comfortable working hands-on with materials and chemicals
• Detail oriented with high level of safety-awareness
• Ability to create and carry out an experimental plan and summarize key learnings