Mechanical Engineer

Positions available until deleted

Location: Seattle, WA (On-site)

Employment Type: Full-Time

Compensation: $90,000 – $110,000 USD FTE hourly, plus early-stage equity and benefits.

The Role

This is a role at a fast-moving startup; you must thrive in a dynamic, rapidly evolving R&D environment and take strong initiative to push projects forward. We need an engineer who owns the entire design-build-test loop and can navigate ambiguity and shifting priorities. Success in this role requires being a collaborative team player who is meticulous about writing down processes, maintaining organized files, navigating ambiguity, and clearly communicating technical progress to the rest of the team.

About Ultropia

Industrial drying processes consume a significant fraction of global energy use, and high-energy gas dryers have no clear path to electrification. At Ultropia, we are creating the future by rethinking industrial drying. Instead of evaporating liquid, we use acoustic energy to mechanically extract it, moving it out of the target material without a phase change. This side-steps the thermodynamics of existing heat-based drying processes and enables hyper-efficient material processing. We are taking a laboratory-proven technology to market and want your help engineering the future of industrial drying.

2 positions are available: Multiphysics & Transducer R&D Mechanical Engineer & Industrial Systems Prototyping Mechanical Enginee r

Role 1: Industrial Systems Prototyping - Mechanical Engineer

We need an engineer who owns the entire design-build-test loop for advanced industrial equipment. You will balance analytical and simulation-informed design work with being on the shop floor machining parts, building assemblies, and testing subsystems and full machines.

Key Responsibilities

● Engineering Ownership: Lead the end-to-end design, fabrication, and testing of complex industrial systems, designing and integrating key subsystems:

○ Structures and Dynamics: Design structural frames and system components capable of withstanding large static loads and high-amplitude vibrations, including vibration isolation systems.

○ Fluid and Thermal Systems: Design air and fluid handling systems, including heaters and vacuum systems. Perform thermal analysis of parts and assemblies.

○ Electrical Integration: Support integration of electronics, including industrial panel design, PC board enclosures and cooling, wire raceways, conduits, and control panels. Perform harness assembly and panel construction.

○ Motion and Power Transmission: Design moving systems consisting of motors, gearboxes, chains, conveyor belts, drums, rollers, and mechanical linkages.

● Hands-On Fabrication: Operate CNC mills, shop machinery, and additive manufacturing systems (FDM, SLA) to build prototypes and supporting equipment. Balance prototyping needs with long-term manufacturability at scale. Manage tooling, material inventories, and CAM processes.

● Specification and Procurement: Manage design documentation, bills of materials, 2D drawings and 3D renders. Specify commercial components, manage vendor relationships, and oversee procurement for specialty machining/fabrication, surface treatments, and off-the-shelf hardware.

● Electromechanical Integration: Work alongside electrical engineers to create designs that integrate ultrasonic power transducers, servos, motors, solenoids, pneumatic actuators, industrial sensors, and data acquisition hardware.

● Testing & Hardware Validation: Develop test procedures, build custom test rigs, and execute testing to validate designs. Support field testing and pilots as needed.

● Documentation & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Create and maintain rigorous documentation for design histories, testing logs, and operating procedures. Coordinate efforts and prioritize objectives in cross-functional team meetings.

Required Skills and Qualifications

● Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Electromechanical Systems Engineering, or a closely related technical field.

● Proven experience designing complex assemblies, including structural elements, rotating machinery, electromechanical components, and air/fluid handling systems.

● Strong background in material specification and related design practices, covering metals, plastics, and composites, including experience with adhesive bonding and surface preparations.

● Detailed structural and fatigue analysis of parts, fasteners, welds, and bondlines within assemblies experiencing heavy static and dynamic loads.

● Experience with thermodynamic modeling for heat transfer problems in both fluids and solids, including transient analysis.

● Extensive hands-on experience with physical prototyping, CNC setup/operation, and general shop equipment.

● Strong CAD/CAM proficiency and experience optimizing components for weight, performance, and manufacturing cost.

● Exceptional documentation practices and verbal communication skills; ability to articulate complex technical challenges clearly to a multidisciplinary team.

● Self-management and the ability to prioritize objectives, coordinate with the team, and define workflows in a dynamic startup setting.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications

● Demonstrated experience with hands-on bring-up and commissioning of multi-subsystem industrial equipment, including a practical working knowledge of machine safety principles, interlocks, and relevant industrial certification standards.

● Simulation workflows such as FEA (Ansys, COMSOL) for mechanical, fluid, and/or thermal analyses.

● Design and execution of accelerated lifecycle testing processes for dynamically loaded components.

● Track record of creating and refining design-build-test workflows to accelerate engineering iteration.

Role 2: Multiphysics & Transducer R&D - Mechanical Engineer

You will focus heavily on the core transducers, structural dynamics, vibrations, and the fluid dynamics of moisture extraction. We need an engineer who owns the entire design-build-test loop and can navigate ambiguity and shifting priorities.

Key Responsibilities

● End-to-End Ownership: Design, fabricate, and test high-power acoustic transducers and supporting equipment. Formulate original designs and drive products from initial concept to field validation. Work with team, advisors and customers to define design objectives from high-level system requirements. Dictate design strategies and workflows and collaborate with team to inform schedules and budgets.

● Advanced Modeling & Simulation: Perform mechanical FEA (Ansys, COMSOL) to evaluate static/dynamic loading, acoustic propagation, material fatigue, fluid dynamics, and heat transfer in complex assemblies. Create analysis workflows and set up processes, document work and iterate to improve analytical tools. Use models to dictate design choices and optimize designs.

● Hands-On Fabrication: Operate CNC mills, shop machinery, and additive manufacturing systems (FDM, SLA) to build prototypes and supporting equipment. Balance prototyping needs with long term manufacturability at scale.

● Testing & Hardware Validation: Develop test procedures, build custom test rigs, and execute test-to-failure regimens to analyze failure modes, validate analytical models against physical performance, and ensure long-term reliability. Interpret results and apply learning to iterate on both the modeling workflow and component design to improve both in parallel. Support field testing and pilots as needed.

● Documentation & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Create and maintain rigorous documentation for design histories, testing logs, and operating procedures. Coordinate efforts and prioritize objectives in cross-functional team meetings.

Required Skills and Qualifications

● Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Electromechanical Systems Engineering, or a closely related technical field.

● Deep technical expertise in mechanical structural analysis, vibrations, and fluid-structure interaction.

● Proficiency in advanced mechanical FEA using Ansys or COMSOL for multiphysics simulation, including mechanical, acoustics, fluid dynamics, and thermal physics.

● Demonstrated hands-on capability with CNC machining, manual shop equipment, and rapid prototyping tools.

● Strong balance of self-direction and teamwork suited for a dynamic, fast-paced startup environment.

● Clear written and verbal communication skills for documenting workflows, technical decisions, and risk assessments.

● Ability to prioritize development efforts and efficiently address risks and unknowns.

Preferred Skills and Qualifications

● Direct experience designing and optimizing high-power acoustic transducers or comparable electroacoustic devices.

● Design and execution of accelerated lifecycle testing processes for dynamically loaded components.

● Track record of creating and refining design-build-test workflows to accelerate engineering iteration.

To apply, send your resume to View email address on click.appcast.io

Ultropia Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We evaluate all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local laws. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, supportive engineering environment. If you require reasonable accommodation during any part of the application or interview process due to a disability, please contact us at View email address on click.appcast.io to let us know the nature of your request.