Western Digital · 1 day ago
Mechanical Design Engineer (Senior Technologist)
Colorado Springs, CO
Full-time
Onsite
Senior Level, Lead/Staff
10+ years expWestern Digital is a company of problem solvers, committed to powering global innovation and technology. The Mechanical Design Engineer (Senior Technologist) will be responsible for the design and analysis of high-performance storage systems, focusing on product design for hard disk drive housings and ensuring robustness against environmental challenges.
Big DataComputerHardwareManufacturingSoftware
Responsibilities
Responsible for design and analysis of high-performance storage systems and subsystems for the OEM and data center marketplace with specific focus on product design for the housing of hard disk drives (HDDs)
Work to develop products that are robust in their ability to withstand shock, vibration, thermal, acoustic, and other environmental challenges when deployed to a field environment yet world class in their design principles
Apply design and working knowledge of HDDs to impact the design of other portions of an enclosure housing HDDs and other system level components such as printed circuit boards, sheet metal and plastic components, system fans
Work alongside HDD development engineering staff as well as enclosure development team members
Collect population level data for an enclosure housing many HDDs and then boil down HDD interaction with other portions of the system using statistical analysis and HDD functional knowledge
Utilize shock, vibration, and acoustic experience to influence design optimization of an enclosure with intellectual property developed as part of the enclosure design
Have intimate knowledge of SolidWorks and ANSYS and its application to part design and study as well as tool and fixture design
Conduct data acquisition and analysis from a variety of sensors using unique Matlab scripting
Act as the lead HDD subject matter expert and resource to the enclosure development team for the mechanical design and development of datacenter storage systems and subsystems consisting of sheet metal parts, plastic injection molded parts, assemblies, HDDs, solid state drives, fans, power supplies, electronic printed circuit boards (PCB’s) with high-speed communication interfaces and rack-based hardware
Conduct HDD level and system level analysis of how an array of HDDs are functioning relative to other HDDs in the system and HDD interaction with both vibration and acoustic noise due to fans and other sources
Interact with the HDD servo development team, enclosure development, and program management team members as well as hyper-scale customers of WD and may direct/lead the work of others
Develop and execute unique test software for HDD parametric and performance measurement while within or outside of a chassis
Reduce a large amount of data in areas such as HDD head positioning data, HDD in-chassis dynamics, component test data, and other data used to assess how an HDD or an array of HDDs is performing relative to expected data throughput
Lead/participate in design reviews, be accountable for meeting test and analysis schedule commitments and deliverables, issue resolution and work with domestic and international suppliers and manufacturing locations to ensure successful enclosure operation at the system level and the individual HDD level
Conduct feasibility studies on components or assemblies to assess function compared to design goals
Develop and execute validation plans culminating in reports demonstrating the successful function of both system level and HDD level operations
Mentor and build the skills of less experienced engineers
Design and analyze mechanical systems in both the theoretical and empirical realm, influence enclosure part and system level design and use SolidWorks and/or ANSYS to generate 3D models and 2D prints for the primary need of evaluating cutting edge designs such as WD’s patented IsoVibe designs or similar
Direct support personnel in the preparation of detailed design, design testing, prototype testing, and data acquisition/analysis
Qualification
Required
BSME or MSME degree with minimum of 10+ years product development experience in computing, data storage or related fields; especially in the realm of HDD manufacturing and/or design
The ability to learn new concepts quickly and apply to new situations
Demonstrated ability in creative problem solving and innovation
Extensive working knowledge of CAD systems (SolidWorks preferred) required
Extensive experience in design and modeling of vibration, shock, and acoustic attenuation components with intentional design features and tolerance considerations
Working knowledge of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and/or structural finite element analysis (FEA) is desirable; experience with multiple analysis programs is a plus
Prior experience with ANSYS non-linear analysis using viscoelastic materials is desirable
Shall be familiar with test instrumentation such as accelerometers, force gauges, air flow, and thermal test equipment
Highly proficient in writing and executing test plans and writing test reports thereby validating the design of parts, assemblies, and systems to positively impact HDD function in an enclosure
Experience in successful participation (engineering portion) of development projects from design to production
Excellent project multi-tasking and communication skills are required for the self-motivated employee
Solid understanding of manufacturing technologies and methodologies including actual manufacturing experience is a plus
Ability and willingness to travel domestically and internationally (<10% total work time on average)
Extensive knowledge and use of Microsoft Office products (Word, Excel, Power Point, MSTeams, OneNote) and Adobe products
Experience with developing scripting and GUI code using Matlab
The ability to distill large amounts of experimental data to a meaningful conclusion and write a brief report for internal or external use
Benefits
Paid vacation time
Paid sick leave
Medical/dental/vision insurance
Life, accident and disability insurance
Tax-advantaged flexible spending and health savings accounts
Employee assistance program
Other voluntary benefit programs such as supplemental life and AD&D, legal plan, pet insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity
Tuition reimbursement
Transit
The Applause Program
Employee stock purchase plan
Western Digital Savings 401(k) Plan
Company
Western Digital
Western Digital helps customers capture, preserve, access, and transform an ever-increasing diversity of data.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Western Digital has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
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Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (158)
2024 (537)
2023 (448)
2022 (580)
2021 (525)
2020 (332)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$901.37M2023-10-31Post Ipo Debt· $1.37M
2023-01-31Post Ipo Equity· $900M
2015-09-30Post Ipo Equity
Leadership Team
Sesh Tirumala
SVP, CIO
A
Alvin B. Phillips
Founder
Recent News
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