Polymer Mechanics & Characterization Specialist

About the role

Join 3M’s Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Division as a Polymer Mechanics & Characterization Specialist. You will act as a technical expert generating high‑quality experimental data and calibrated material models that enable predictive simulation of adhesives, tapes and adhesive joints across the company.

Key responsibilities

• Perform hands‑on mechanical, rheological, thermal and multi‑axial characterization of adhesives, tapes, polymers and composite joints to generate data for finite‑element analysis.
• Operate, maintain and improve laboratory instrumentation such as rheometers, dynamic mechanical analyzers, DSC/TMA/TGA equipment and universal test machines equipped with digital image correlation.
• Design, develop and validate experimental test methods that provide reliable, repeatable data for constitutive model calibration and simulation workflows.
• Develop calibrated material models from experimental data and support their deployment within 3M’s Digital Materials Hub for enterprise‑wide reuse.
• Process, analyze and visualise large experimental datasets using Python, MATLAB and other digital tools to fit model parameters and communicate results.
• Collaborate with product developers, simulation experts, materials scientists and customers to align characterization strategies with application requirements.
• Train and support researchers and engineers on instrumentation operation, best practices and workflow documentation.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in Materials Science, Polymer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering or a related field.
• At least three years of hands‑on experience in polymer characterization, experimental mechanics or materials testing in an academic, private, public, government or military setting.
• Demonstrated ability to operate and interpret data from mechanical, rheological and thermal characterization equipment.
• Experience processing experimental datasets with scientific computing tools such as Python or MATLAB.

Required skills

• Rheometers and dynamic mechanical analyzers (DMA).
• Thermal analysis instruments (DSC, TMA, TGA).
• Universal test machines with digital image correlation (DIC) systems.
• Finite‑element analysis (FEA) material model development.
• Python and MATLAB for data analysis and model fitting.
• Statistical software such as Minitab or JMP, DOE and SPC methods.