Automation Engineer

Automation Engineer

Austin, TX

About Us

Even is building a network of autonomous factories that manufacture the component parts inside every rocket, jet, drone, submarine, and munition in the US arsenal. We combine software, robotics, and manufacturing processes into a replicable system that we are copying and pasting across the country. By doing so, we are reindustrializing America's most critical supply chains with faster, cheaper, and higher quality manufacturing.

 

Even is building its first facility in Austin, Texas, and is backed by leading investors, including Khosla Ventures, Quiet Capital, Link Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

The Role

We’re looking for an Automation Engineer to design the systems that let our machining cell run around the clock without an operator. We are building an automated cell for 5-axis CNC machining. Machines are lined up in a row, and a robot travels between them loading in raw materials, and unloading finished pallets. The cell is designed to manufacture parts through the night and over the weekend.

 

The Automation Engineer will decide which vises we use so that a small set of standard fixtures can hold a wide range of parts, which tools we keep in the machines so that most jobs run without a tool change, how jobs are assigned to pallets and sequenced through the cell, and what our next generation of machinery looks like. This is a role for someone who lives and breathes machining and CAM programming.

What You’ll Do

• Define our standardized tool set and our parameters for tool wear so we know exactly when a tool gets swapped out
• Define our standard vise and workholding system so that we minimize the number of unique vises and fixtures while maximizing the range of parts the cell can hold
• Define our pallet strategy, meaning how jobs are assigned to pallets and sequenced through the cell so it stays running unattended
• Specify and implement machine monitoring hardware such as Marposs and Caron Engineering systems, including spindle load, torque, and vibration sensors, so we can pull live data off every machine and detect a bad cut or a worn tool before it becomes a scrapped part
• Define our next generation quality stack, evaluating technologies such as CT scanning, in-machine probing, and automated CMM programming to decide how every part gets inspected as the cell scales
• Lead machine and equipment selection for the next iterations of the cell, including CNC machines, wash stations, and quality equipment, from requirements through vendor evaluation and acceptance testing
• Prove out new parts through first article and process qualification before they are released to run unattended
• Work with software engineers to build automation workflows into your process

Who You Are

• Deep hands-on experience with 5-axis milling and CNC machining
• Experience running, setting up, or engineering automated cells with pallet systems is a big plus
• Comfortable in a major CAM package and able to read G-code, write macros, and set up in-process probing is a big plus
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering preferred
• Experience machining titanium, Inconel, and other hard alloys is a plus
• Excited by automation and eager to work in a shop built around lights-out production
• US citizen or lawful permanent resident, as required by ITAR

Example Profiles (Already Contacted)

• Michael Bettati
• Clayton Pavelka
• Jonathan Gottschalk
• Anthony Duchon
• Matthew Clark