Simulation Engineer, Thermal and Heat-Transfer Analysis at IIT Madras
Job Description
IIT Madras is hiring a Simulation Engineer for thermal and heat-transfer analysis on a sponsored project, coordinated by Prof. Sathyan Subbiah. It is an industry-style role for an engineer with two to five years of Ansys or COMSOL experience who wants to work on real systems within an IIT project team.
At a glance
- Position: Simulation Engineer (1 post, contract)
- Department (as given): Department of Physics; the coordinator is listed under Mechanical Engineering Design
- Pay: Rs 45,000 to Rs 75,000 per month
- Duration: Initially one year, extendable based on performance
- Apply by: 23 September 2026, online
- Advertisement: ICSR/PR/Advt. 178/2026, dated 9 September 2026
Thermal simulation predicts how heat moves through a system by conduction, convection and radiation, so that designers can keep every component within its temperature limits. It is central to electronics, aerospace and process equipment, and it usually feeds into structural analysis and physical testing.
About the simulation engineer role
- Perform steady-state and transient thermal analyses, and build thermal models at component, subsystem and system level
- Analyse conduction, convection, radiation, conjugate heat transfer and thermal-fluid networks, including 2-D/3-D thermal resistance and multiphase network models
- Run thermal trade studies, set thermal margins and recommend design solutions considering temperature limits, mass, performance and manufacturability
- Generate thermal boundary conditions and temperature fields for structural and thermo-mechanical analysis
- Support insulation, radiation shield, heat sink and heat strap selection, thermal test planning and data analysis, and investigate thermal anomalies
- Automate analysis workflows in Python, MATLAB or similar, and prepare reports and design-review material with the 3D modelling, fabrication and analytical teams
Eligibility
- B.E./B.Tech or M.E./M.Tech in Mechanical, Chemical or Thermal Engineering, or a related discipline
- 2 to 5 years of industrial experience with Ansys and COMSOL on industrial problems, using SolidWorks as a modelling tool
- Strong fundamentals in heat transfer, thermodynamics and fluid mechanics
All IC&SR project positions are purely on a contract basis, and completing a contract does not confer any right to extension or regularisation. Candidates are shortlisted for a test or interview on the basis of their online application, and all correspondence is by email.
Pay and duration
- Rs 45,000 to Rs 75,000 per month
- Initially one year, extendable based on performance
How to apply
Apply online only, through the IIT Madras IC&SR project recruitment portal, where this announcement is listed. Use a correct, active email address, since all communication is by email.
Key dates
- Online applications close: 23 September 2026
Please read the official IIT Madras IC&SR announcement (PDF) before applying, and browse more engineering jobs on ResearchJobs.in.
Hiring institution: Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Official advertisement: icandsr.iitm.ac.in
How to prepare for this application
- Heat-transfer fundamentals: be ready to set up a conjugate heat transfer problem from scratch and justify the boundary conditions.
- Radiation: view factors, emissivity and when radiation dominates.
- Model credibility: mesh independence, validation against test data and thermal margins.
- Automation: show a Python or MATLAB script that ran or post-processed simulations.
- Industry examples: prepare two thermal problems you solved and the design changes they led to.
About IIT Madras
IIT Madras, founded in 1959, is one of India's oldest Indian Institutes of Technology, with a large campus in Chennai. Project staff for its sponsored research are recruited through the Office of Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (IC&SR), which runs its own online application portal.