Battery Design Engineer

ABOUT

Agnikul Cosmos is a company incubated at IIT Madras and we build rockets that can take satellites up to 500 kg to Lower Earth Orbit (LEO). In May 2024, we successfully completed our maiden launch from our own launchpad (India's first private launchpad). The launch has proven all the new technologies developed by Agnikul and also earned recognition from Honourable Prime Minister of India.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Design and develop high-voltage, high-power and high-energy battery packs from concept to prototype and qualification.

Define battery architecture based on required voltage, current, power, energy, discharge duration, mass, and mission profile.

Perform cell selection and characterization based on energy density, power capability, C-rate, internal resistance, temperature behaviour, cycle life, and safety.

Design series/parallel cell configurations to meet required voltage, capacity, peak current, continuous current, and energy requirements.

Develop battery electrical architecture including:

- Cell/module interconnections

- Busbars

- Fuses and protection devices

- Contactors

- Pre-charge circuit

- HV connectors

- Current and voltage sensing

- HV interlock and isolation monitoring

Work closely with the BMS team for cell monitoring, balancing, SOC/SOH estimation, protection and fault handling.

Develop battery thermal management strategies for high-current charge/discharge operation.

Perform electrical, thermal, and mechanical calculations for battery modules and packs.

Design and review busbars, terminals, interconnects and high-current paths, including voltage-drop and temperature-rise calculations.

Analyse battery behaviour under peak-power and high-C-rate discharge conditions.

Develop battery protection strategies for over-voltage, under-voltage, over-current, short circuit, over-temperature and insulation faults.

Support battery pack mechanical design, enclosure integration, sealing, vibration isolation and thermal interfaces.

Prepare battery system requirements, schematics, interface documents, test procedures and validation reports.

Plan and execute cell, module and pack-level testing.

Perform battery characterization using battery cyclers and other laboratory equipment.

Analyse test data and identify battery performance, thermal and electrical issues.

Support environmental qualification including vibration, thermal cycling, vacuum/low-pressure and other relevant tests.

Perform failure analysis and contribute to FMEA, fault-tree analysis and design reviews.

Support integration of the battery with motor drives, power distribution systems, DC/DC converters and other high-power loads.

Work with vendors for cell, BMS, connector, busbar, cooling and battery-pack components.

Support prototype assembly, bring-up, troubleshooting and field/vehicle testing.

Requirements

3–4 years of hands-on experience in battery pack design, battery systems, BMS or high-power energy-storage systems.

Strong understanding of Li-ion battery chemistry and battery characteristics.

Experience with high-voltage battery systems and high-current applications.

Good understanding of:

- Cell selection and characterization

- Series/parallel battery configuration

- C-rate and power/energy calculations

- SOC/SOH fundamentals

- Cell balancing

- Battery protection

- Pre-charge and contactor circuits

- HV isolation and interlock

- Thermal management

- Busbar and interconnect design

Experience with battery testing and data analysis.

Ability to perform electrical and thermal calculations for battery systems.

Good understanding of BMS hardware and communication interfaces such as CAN/CAN-FD.

Experience with electrical schematics and battery-system architecture.

Working knowledge of safety considerations associated with high-voltage and high-energy battery systems.

Willingness to work extended hours as required.