Senior R&D Engineer (NDE)

Senior R&D Engineer (NDE) Columbus Office - Columbus, OH 43221 Overview Level Experienced Position Type Full Time Job Shift Day Education Level Graduate Degree Travel Percentage Negligible Category Engineering Role & Essential Functions EWI is a world leader in developing and deploying innovative technologies that enable companies to bridge the gap between R&D and manufacturing implementation. EWI Associates are passionate about identifying out-of-the-box solutions that provide a long-term competitive advantage for our clients. Our clients tell us we are a valuable extension and a complement to their innovation, engineering and manufacturing teams. If you enjoy working with customers and solving difficult, technical problems, EWI is the place for you. EWI is seeking a Senior R&D Engineer to lead the application of advanced nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technology to client manufacturing challenges, with particular emphasis on integrating inspection into automated and in-process production systems. This is a customer-facing technical role. The successful candidate will work directly with client companies to define inspection problems, select and adapt leading-edge NDE methods, and implement those methods within robotic, automated, and in-line manufacturing environments. The position emphasizes application, integration, and deployment rather than fundamental research. EWI's value to its clients lies in identifying what is possible at the leading edge of NDE science and making it work reliably on production hardware. ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS Customer engagement and business development - Serve as the primary technical point of contact for client companies on inspection and NDE projects; lead collaborative internal and external teams to implement solutions - Visit client facilities to assess inspection needs, evaluate production environments, and identify opportunities for automated and in-process inspection - Translate client requirements into project scopes, technical approaches, cost and schedule estimates - Present findings, recommendations, and results to audiences ranging from shop floor operators to executive leadership - Support business development through proposal preparation, technical presentations, client council participation, and industry conference activity - Build long-term client relationships that lead to repeated and expanded work - Train client personnel on delivered systems and transfer capability so solutions remain in use after a project closes Technology implementation and automation Evaluate and select advanced NDE methods, including phased array and full matrix capture ultrasonics, eddy current array, computed tomography, thermography, guided wave, and optical techniques, and determine which are viable for production deployment Design and implement in-process and in-line inspection solutions that operate during manufacturing rather than after it, with emphasis on welding, additive manufacturing, and composite processes Integrate inspection hardware into robotic cells, gantries, motion systems, and production equipment, including sensor selection and placement, fixturing, scan planning, and instrument control Develop data acquisition, processing, and analysis pipelines, applying signal processing, image processing, and machine learning methods where they add value Interface inspection systems with plant control and quality data systems, and support feedback to the manufacturing process where feasible Validate system performance through designed experiments, probability of detection studies, and reliability analysis Develop procedur