Simulation and Modeling Engineer

Johnson Controls

Simulation and Modeling Engineer

European Air-Cooled Chiller Engineering  |  Dublin, Ireland

What you will do

Johnson Controls has an exciting Product Engineer II opportunity based at our Dublin, Ireland location, supporting our new European air-cooled chiller engineering organization. If you enjoy applied thermodynamics and heat transfer, working with laboratory test data, and building the analysis tools that help an engineering team make better decisions, this could be the right position for you.

In this role you will support the performance rating and thermal analysis of air-cooled chillers engineered for the European market, working under general supervision. You will run our chiller rating and selection programs, prepare and check the performance data behind EN 14511, EN 14825, and Ecodesign / ErP compliance, compare rated performance against results from test labs, and build your own analysis tools where the production programs do not reach.

This is a product engineering role, not a software development role. Our core simulation models and production rating engines are developed and maintained by the global Modeling & Simulation team. You will be a skilled user of those tools – validating them against real test data, extending them with your own analysis, and feeding back what Europe needs – while continuing to build your expertise.

How you will do it

• Develops and applies an understanding of the theories, concepts, technical principles, and processes related to the fluid, thermal, refrigeration, and other mechanical aspects of air-cooled chillers, and of how they determine rated performance

• Works under general supervision, following work instructions and defined processes to produce, check, and document chiller performance ratings

• Runs and interprets chiller rating and selection programs for European products: prepares rating cases, checks outputs for consistency, and investigates anomalies with more experienced engineers

• Prepares performance data for European products at full and part load in line with EN 14511 and EN 14825 (SEER, SEPR, ηs,c), and supports the data packages submitted for Ecodesign / ErP compliance and Eurovent certification

• Compares rated and modelled performance against laboratory test data – reducing and plotting results, quantifying deviation, and reporting findings to the product team

• Builds and maintains practical analysis and rating tools, mainly spreadsheet based, for parametric studies, curve fitting of compressor and heat exchanger data, and the cases production programs do not cover

• Performs thermal analysis in support of assigned design work: heat exchanger sizing and selection, approach temperature and pressure drop trade-offs, refrigerant circuiting, fouling allowances, and high-ambient corrections

• Supports studies of control and staging strategies – compressor staging and unloading, fan speed control, and low-ambient operation – and their effect on rated and seasonal efficiency

• Supports refrigerant transition work, for example R-454B, R-1234ze(E), and R-290, by producing comparative capacity and efficiency data across the European range

• Helps execute test programs at various laboratories: prepares test matrices, checks instrumentation and data quality, and processes the results used for rating

• Responsible for engineering deliverables including rating notes, correlation reports, performance data sheets, and the assumption records behind published data; prepares, checks, and coordinates their release

• Provides rating and performance support to application engineers, sales, product marketing, and product technical service across Europe, and can mentor new hires at the Engineer I level

• Works with the global Modeling & Simulation team as a user of their models and rating engines, feeding back correlation results, data gaps, and requests for new capability

• Works with engineering counterparts in York (PA), Wuxi, and Izmir to keep European ratings practice consistent with global methods

• Reports the status of own work to the project team, with good written and verbal communication, and contributes to the accurate and on-time completion of projects

• Continuously increases expertise across chiller design, theory, construction, operation, and applications; participates in process improvement

• Adheres to the Company's Code of Conduct and Business Ethics standards

What we look for

Required

• BS in Mechanical Engineering or a related engineering discipline / science

• Minimum 2 years of work experience in a related field

• Working knowledge of fluid and thermal principles, including analysis of the vapour compression cycle

• Strong spreadsheet skills, with the ability to build own analysis tools for data reduction, curve fitting, and parametric study

• Comfortable working with laboratory test data – reducing, plotting, and sanity-checking measured results

• Able to organize and process large amounts of data

• Working knowledge of European performance rating and efficiency requirements for chillers (EN 14511, EN 14825, Ecodesign / ErP), with awareness of CE marking, PED, and EN 378

• Good written and verbal communication skills

• Ability to work in a fast-paced, schedule-driven, team-oriented environment

• Ability to travel up to 10%, primarily within Europe

Preferred

• Experience using chiller or heat pump rating and selection software, whether JCI programs or equivalent OEM selection tools

• Scripting for automation of rating runs and post-processing of test data (Python preferred), as a capable tool user rather than a software developer

• Familiarity with compressor performance maps and heat exchanger performance – microchannel and round-tube-plate-fin coils, brazed plate and shell-and-tube evaporators

• Familiarity with refrigerant property tools such as REFPROP, CoolProp, or EES

• Familiarity with refrigeration systems and the EU F-Gas Regulation, including low-GWP refrigerant transitions

• Exposure to Eurovent Certita Certification (Liquid Chilling Packages) or AHRI certification programs

• Experience engineering industrial products in engineer-to-order, applied, or made-to-order environments

• Experience with measurement uncertainty analysis in a test laboratory environment

• Experience with thermal analysis tools such as EES, or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis tools or transient simulation tools such as Dymola or MATLAB Simulink