Research Scientist

About the Company

Trine Energy is a UK based early stage startup developing products for transmission of electrical power (1MW+) using power of fiber (PoF) as the core technology. PoF is already in use in many industries. However the power used in those applications are in milliwatts. Our power transmission target is orders of magnitude higher. It is a challenging yet exciting problem to solve.

We are working on the hypothesis that the production of power is a solved problem. Solar and wind based energy production has been rapidly scaling since the start of the century. In fact there is too much generation of solar and wind power in many European countries leading to curtailment and negative spot price of electricity. Renaissance of fission nuclear reactors and the advancements in fusion means there will be no shortage of electrical power. The challenge will be to distribute that power at a national and global scale. Today, the only option of distributing electrical power over distance is the power grid. It works, but just. It is a super old technology. It takes immense effort to build or expand, and is costly to maintain. According to various studies, ~$1 Trillion of annual investment is needed globally to upgrade and expand the grid networks to reach net zero target by 2050. Governments don’t have fiscal capacity to make such investments. It has not seen any real innovation for a very long time and there is none on the horizon to significantly reduce the cost. It gets unstable when there is too much intermittent power in the mix, which goes against the global drive for energy transition. It is fragmented, and has no global scale. 

Laser and fiber optic, in comparison, are modern technologies, enjoying rapid innovation. Both are highly flexible products. They have many interesting properties that electricity and power cables don’t have. They can be produced in significantly higher volumes and are easy to deploy. Their cost and performance are improving at Moore’s law scale. This opens the opportunity for us to build products and become an alternative to specific use cases that are easier to develop and implement in the near term, such as providing power redundancy using short distance transmission (<5km) to critical infrastructure such as defense systems and data centers. It is also possible to deliver electrical power as thermal energy for commercial and industrial heating. The long term goal is to create a global network of power, much like the internet, where producers and end users can connect instantly and seamlessly using our technology. The products that solve the energy distribution problem at a global scale have the potential to define a new industry.

Our plan is to combine technologies from different fields of science and engineering such as high power diode and fiber lasers, specialised fiber optic, power over fiber, and thermal photovoltaic cells to achieve the goal. By using technologies that are already invented and commercialised, and pushing the boundaries of engineering and finance to create a product that solves one of the biggest energy transition bottlenecks, is a mission worth pursuing.

About the Role

You will develop and validate first‑principles and multiphysics models for high‑power laser–fiber systems, and use them to guide architecture choices and scaling from 1 MW @ 1 km toward 100 MW @ 100 km. Your work will define the physics ground truth behind Trine’s product decisions.

• Lead development of physics‑based models for high‑power propagation in optical fibers, capturing linear and nonlinear effects, multimode behaviour, and the impact of different fiber technologies.
• Build and maintain multiphysics simulation pipelines that couple optical, thermal, and mechanical effects for Trine’s transmission scenarios and operating envelopes.
• Design and run parameter sweeps and trade‑space analyses to map scaling limits, safe operating regions, and trade‑offs between fiber types, core sizes, and cable architectures.
• Incorporate vendor specifications, lab measurements, and synthetic data into modelling frameworks, and rigorously sanity‑check outputs against analytical estimates and literature.
• Work closely with the Photonics Engineer and product team to convert model insights into concrete system‑level requirements, design rules, and test plans.
• Own the documentation of models: governing equations, assumptions, numerical schemes, validation, and key results, making them understandable and reusable across the company and with partners.
• Explore and, where it adds leverage, deploy AI‑assisted simulation (surrogate models, physics‑informed neural networks, optimisation) to accelerate the virtual R&D loop.

What we are looking for in the candidate

• MSc, PhD, or postdoctoral experience in Physics, Photonics, or a closely related field.
• Strong foundation in optical physics and electromagnetics, with hands‑on experience modelling one or more of:
• Linear and nonlinear optical propagation in waveguides or fibers (e.g., SRS, SBS, Kerr effects).
• Mode theory, optical coupling, and multimode interactions.
• FEM‑based electromagnetic simulations and eigenvalue/mode‑solving.
• Proven experience building first‑principles models (Maxwell‑based PDEs, eigenvalue problems, nonlinear ODE/PDE systems) and taking them through validation against experiment or literature.
• Solid experience with Python and at least one multiphysics or EM tool (COMSOL, Ansys, MATLAB, or similar), including scripting for sweeps and post‑processing.
• Ability to reason clearly about assumptions, approximations, and uncertainties, and to communicate technical results to both specialists and non‑specialists.
• Comfort working in a fast‑moving, ambiguous startup environment and collaborating with engineers, product, suppliers, and external labs.
• Experience running simulations on HPC or cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP, GPU clusters).
• Practical lab exposure to diode or fiber lasers and large‑core/specialty fibers, even if your primary focus has been modelling.
• Experience applying AI/ML to scientific or engineering problems, such as surrogate modelling, physics‑informed networks, or design optimisation.
• Familiarity with version control and collaborative tooling (e.g., GitHub, JuliaHub).
• Prior work in early‑stage startups, industry‑academic partnerships, or consortia where modelling tools and processes were built from scratch.

What we offer

• Remote‑first role, open to UK and non‑UK candidates. Full‑time, with the option to start part‑time and ramp up.
• Opportunity to architect Trine’s virtual lab, define the modelling stack for high‑power PoF systems, and shape the scientific foundation of a new energy‑distribution infrastructure.