Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeler

Would you like to be part of an ambitious, innovative team working on cutting-edge projects to help humankind and to make a positive difference in the world?

We are looking for a passionate Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeler to join our team and help us develop our product for COVID-19 Risk Assessment. This is an unpaid position that can be an internship for a highly-advanced undergraduate or graduate student, or a volunteer position for a skilled practitioner.

You will be using CFD analysis to produce approximate airborne transmission models that improve upon the well-mixed room models.  Since it is too computationally expensive to solve the CFD models on the fly within our Personal Risk Assessment app, the CFD models will be studied to develop more-approximate empirical models. You will work with CFD models with both static as well as dynamic boundaries.  (Motion of solid objects and people may come from other sources, such as an agent-based machine-learning model.) This is an interesting and challenging project.  Gain experience working on mitigating a huge real-world problem: COVID-19.

Responsibilities

• Develop Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models to contribute to our COVID-19 modeling.
• Perform geometric modeling with CAD software and Python.
• Perform Data Analysis & Develop Empirical Models
• Document code & progress
• Collaborate with the team
• Test and debug programs, including with automated unit tests

Responsibilities may be adjusted based on needs and skills.

Requirements

• Strong background in Fluid Mechanics, Numerical Modeling & Finite Element Analysis
• Experience with Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Experience with CAD software (at least 2D, but 3D preferred; FreeCAD a plus)
• Experience modeling Multiphase Flows with CFD is big plus
• Experience with Dynamic Meshes preferred
• Experience with OpenFOAM is a plus
• Proficient with Python code and data analysis.
• Ability to follow a high-paced Agile development process, working on a small team
• Team spirit
• Adaptable
• Good problem-solving skills
• Generally self-reliant, but willing to seek help when overall more efficient
• Willingness to contribute your skills to respond to COVID-19 and future pandemics.

Location

Fully Remote

Term

This internship is for Spring through Summer 2022-2023 or Summer through Fall 2023; the duration & hours are negotiable.

About Quantum Risk Analytics, Inc.

We are a 501(c)(3) federally-tax-exempt charitable non-profit research organization founded by MIT alumni.

Our mission: To help mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic and future epidemics by developing and deploying robust risk assessment tools that predicts real-world infection, long-COVID, severe disease and mortality risk, thus empowering individuals, groups, and organizations to make better risk-informed decisions about their activities. Our larger mission is to address emergencies with analytics, and we will be branching out into other domains in the future.

Pandemonium is a COVID-19 Risk Assessment & Projection Model being developed by Quantum Risk Analytics, Inc. as its first product.

The basic framework of the model will allow for an arbitrary degree of demographic and spatial refinement where data is available as well as allow various submodels to be incorporated into the overall model making this a very extensive and extensible framework that can be used by researchers and others. (For more about our model design, please refer to the draft proposal on our website.)

Some key technical attributes of our model framework so far:

• Stochastic (draws are made from probability distributions, giving distributions as model results and thus statistical metrics such as confidence intervals)

• Regional & Compartmental (each region’s population is categorized into distinct compartments, the evolution of which is modeled)

• Individualized (allows specified individuals to be modeled in conjunction with the larger epidemiological model)

• Heterogeneous (epidemiological parameters can vary over time and region)

• Spatially-Hierarchical (smaller regions within larger regions can be modeled where data is available for greater refinement and specificity)

• Dynamic (allowing for specific travel history/plans & commuting pattern changes over time)

• Demographically-structured (differences among demographic groups based on age, race, etc., can also be modeled where there is data available)

• Incorporates micro mechanistic submodeling (models the physical mechanics of transmission in micro scenarios, fully integrated with the epidemiological model)

• Incorporates vaccinations (the effectiveness of vaccines as provided by submodels are utilized).

• Modular (allows for various submodels to be developed that are narrow in scope but still benefit from being connected to the larger framework and its other submodels, epidemiological model and inference capabilities)

• Machine Learning built on the Pyro Probabilistic Programming Language (PPL), using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) and other statistical inference techniques. (This allows the strongest inference practical from imperfect, missing and limited data, and forecasts into the future.)

We continue to develop this model to include additional features, information & detail. We plan to make our model framework open-source around the same time that we launch our risk assessment app for general use.

Quantum Risk Analytics, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by MIT alumni, bringing together talented, motivated people from different countries and with diverse backgrounds. This has been an all-volunteer effort with volunteers from 3 continents. We want to contribute our skills for the greatest good of the world, devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We want to help as many people as possible, including and especially the more marginalized, both in the US and around the world. This is why we wish to make the service available to everyone for free and why Quantum Risk Analytics, Inc. is a non-profit organization. If you have the interest, commitment, and ability to contribute your skills while you gain experience and knowledge working on a real-world product, please apply!

How to Apply

Please, E-mail us with your resume and a brief cover letter.