Electrical Engineering Lab Technician

Summary

We are seeking a skilled EE Lab Technician to support our team of full-time Electrical Engineers who design and prototype custom hardware. This contractor will be instrumental in managing lab operations, assisting in PCB assembly and reworking, building harnesses, and conducting tests on prototypes to ensure functionality and quality.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

The EE Lab Technician will be pivotal in supporting the creation and refinement of hardware prototypes. This includes skilled tasks such as microsoldering and reworking PCBs to exact specifications, performing rigorous testing to ensure design integrity, and building wiring harnesses. Additionally, the technician will manage component inventories, and support engineers by preparing and executing test setups using various lab equipment.

Required Skills:

PCB Assembly and Reworking:
Proficient in microsoldering with a minimum component size of 0402.Experienced in using reflow solder techniques, particularly with QFN, and applying PCB stencils. Capable of PCB reworking including rerouting traces, desoldering SMD and through-hole components, and modifying circuits by adding new components. Familiar with replacing resistors and capacitors to different values as required.

Testing and Troubleshooting:
Conduct PCB bring-up testing including measuring voltages, resistance, performing continuity tests, and identifying shorts. Experience with standard bench test equipment such as power supplies, electronic loads, oscilloscopes, signal generators, and DAQ systems.
Harness Building:
Proficient in crimping, understanding different locking mechanisms of connectors, and capable of reading and updating harness diagrams.

Documentation and Organization:
Ability to document the building process of systems and update existing documentation. Organized and self-sufficient in managing tasks and tracking part orders for various projects.

Desirable Skills:
Mechanical Prototyping: Ability to prototype mounting fixtures using generic brackets, drilling, and cutting metal.
Testing Procedures: Able to execute test scripts on Linux as per existing test plans.

Optional Skills:
Innovative and Proactive Work Ethic:
Capable of independent work and initiating tasks such as lab organization during downtimes.Proposes methods to improve lab efficiency, e.g., optimizing label printing using software integration with label printers.

Inventory Management:
Experience in managing the storage of PCB components and connectors efficiently.
Qualifications:
Proven experience (4+ Years) in a lab environment supporting hardware design and testing.
Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
Excellent communication and teamwork capabilities.