Senior Design & Manufacturing Engineer

About Company

At Uravu Labs, we are dedicated to making human life more sustainable and communities more resilient. We believe in the need for breakthrough technologies in the water industry to create a sustainable future for everyone.

Our patent-pending and award-winning 100% renewable water technology uses atmospheric moisture and renewable energy to produce high-quality drinking water. Scalable to large quantities, our solution serves industries and communities in a decentralized and carbon-neutral way. We deliver impactful outcomes for water initiatives and aim to completely rethink how we experience water.

How We Started

Founded in 2019, Uravu Labs was born out of a shared vision to address water scarcity issues, particularly inspired by the founders own experiences on the NIT Calicut campus during their studies. Driven by a passion for innovation and sustainability, Uravu Labs embarked on a mission to develop cutting-edge solutions that could extract water from the air using renewable energy sources. The company's journey began with the realization that existing methods were not entirely sustainable due to their heavy reliance on electricity and the use of refrigerants with high global warming potential.

Determined to make a difference, the founders set out to create a solution that would be truly renewable and sustainable, resulting in groundbreaking technology that harnesses renewable energy to produce clean water from the air.

Role at a glance: Own the mechanical design and manufacturing of Uravu's liquid-desiccant water-positive cooling modules from the 125 kW building block to fully integrated 1 MW blocks. This is a hands-on, founder-facing senior role for an engineer who can take vacuum chambers, brine-wetted skids, and containerized systems from concept to leak-free, production-ready, deployable hardware.

Role Overview:

We are looking for a senior, hands-on Design & Manufacturing Engineer to lead the design, development, and manufacturing of Uravu's modules across the 125 kW to 1 MW range. You will own modules end-to-end: converting thermodynamic and process concepts into production-ready mechanical designs, engineering vacuum-tight desorber chambers and brine-wetted skids, packaging the full thermal stack into ISO shipping containers, creating manufacturing drawings, driving fabrication vendors, and taking prototypes through to reliable production builds.

This role sits at the heart of the hardest engineering Uravu does. Two constraints define almost every decision: vacuum integrity (our module size itself is set by what we can fabricate as a leak-tight vacuum vessel) and brine corrosion (our halide desiccant is aggressive toward standard stainless steels). The ideal candidate has built real industrial equipment, respects these constraints, and can deliver manufacturable, cost-effective, 10-year-reliable hardware with minimal supervision.

Key Resposibilities:

Module & System Design (125 kW → 1 MW)

• Own the mechanical design of 125 kW modules and architect their aggregation into 1 MW blocks with N+1 redundancy and standardized, interchangeable interfaces.

• Design vacuum/process chambers, desorber vessels, absorber contactors, equipment enclosures, skids, and supporting structures.

• Design sheet-metal components, welded assemblies, frames, piping layouts, manifolds, mounting brackets, and access panels.

• Integrate compressors, vacuum pumps, high-CFM fan/blower arrays, heat exchangers (shell-and-tube, microchannel, finned-tube), pumps, sensors, and desiccant spray/contactor systems into complete module assemblies.

• Optimize for manufacturability, serviceability (hot-swap / drain-and-isolate), reliability, and cost per MW.

Vacuum & Pressure Integrity (Core Focus)

• Design vacuum vessels and chambers for leak-tightness, including weld-joint design for vacuum service, flange/gasket/seal selection, and vacuum-rated penetrations and fittings.

• Specify and oversee leak detection and testing, including helium leak testing, pressure/vacuum decay testing, and weld inspection (dye-penetrant, RT/X-ray where relevant).

• Apply relevant codes and standards, including ASME BPVC Section VIII (pressure & external-pressure/vacuum vessels), IBR / PESO for India, and PED for EU-bound units.

Materials & Corrosion-Resistant Design (Core Focus)

• Select materials and design details for brine service, including crevice-free weld design, galvanic isolation, 316/316L stainless steel, titanium, FRP for low-pressure wet sections, and corrosion-resistant coatings/linings.

• Design systems to prevent the corrosion → scaling → fouling feedback loop and support 10-year reliability targets, not just first-build cost.

CAD Modeling & Engineering Documentation

• Create detailed 3D models and assemblies in CAD.

• Generate manufacturing, fabrication, assembly, and installation drawings.

• Prepare Bills of Materials (BOMs), part lists, and revision-controlled documentation.

• Maintain engineering records and drawing databases.

Design for Logistics & Manufacturing

• Package the full thermal stack (absorber, desorber, heat exchangers, condenser) to fit and ship within 20-ft and 40-ft High-Cube ISO containers (12.0 × 2.35 × 2.7 m).

• Apply Design for Logistics (stackability, lifting/rigging, road-transport limits) and Design for

Manufacturing & Assembly (standard parts across modules, minimal on-site fabrication).

• Design with production tooling, jigs/fixtures, and a scalable vendor network in mind as the organization grows from tens to thousands of units.

Manufacturing & Vendor Development

• Coordinate with fabrication vendors, sheet-metal manufacturers, machine shops, laser-cutting vendors, and assembly partners.

• Review fabricated parts against drawings, quality requirements, and weld-integrity standards.

• Support vendor selection, quotation reviews, and technical discussions; manage vendors independently.

• Resolve manufacturing issues and implement design improvements during production.

Prototype Development & Testing

• Support fabrication and assembly of prototypes and define module burn-in protocols (minimum continuous run before acceptance).

• Participate in system integration, leak/performance testing, and troubleshooting.

• Modify designs based on test feedback and field observations.

• Ensure smooth transition from prototype to repeatable production.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Work directly with founders and collaborate with electrical, thermal, process, and production teams.

• Coordinate mechanical layouts with electrical-panel integration, controls/instrumentation pre-integration, and process-equipment requirements.

• Support installation, commissioning, and product-improvement activities at customer sites when required.

Required Skills:

• • Strong proficiency in SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, Fusion 360, Creo, or similar CAD software.
• Proven experience designing sheet-metal parts, welded structures, and industrial equipment, and producing manufacturing-ready fabrication drawings.
• Vacuum and/or pressure-vessel design and fabrication experience, with a working understanding of leak-tightness and weld integrity.
• Corrosion-resistant design and fabrication - material selection for aggressive/corrosive fluid service.
• Strong command of GD&T and engineering tolerances.
• Strong understanding of fabrication processes: laser cutting, bending, welding, machining, powder coating, and assembly.
• Ability to manage vendors and fabrication partners independently.
• Hands-on approach to prototype development and troubleshooting.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with pressure vessels, vacuum systems, HVAC/refrigeration, or process equipment.
• Knowledge of pressure-vessel / vacuum codes (ASME BPVC, IBR/PESO, PED).
• FEA and structural calculations, including external-pressure (vacuum buckling) and thermal-stress cases.
• Familiarity with electrical-panel integration, instrumentation, and industrial control systems.
• Startup or 0→1 hardware product-development experience, and design-for-scale (tooling, jigs, vendor scale-up) mindset.

Qualifications:

• B.E./B.Tech/ ME/ M.Tech/ MS in Mechanical, Manufacturing, or related engineering field.
• Pressure-vessel, vacuum, cryogenic, or process-equipment background strongly preferred over sheet-metal-only experience.
• Exceptional diploma holders with deep industrial design and fabrication experience may be considered.
• 5–10 years of relevant experience in mechanical design and manufacturing of industrial equipment.
• Proven track record of taking products from concept to fabrication, assembly, and field deployment.

What you will work on (Year One)

• Harden the 125 kW module's vacuum-chamber and brine-wetted subsystems for zero-leak, production-grade builds.
• Define standardized module interfaces and the 1 MW block integration (N+1, hot-swap, isolation/drain).
• Build the fabrication, inspection, and burn-in workflow with our vendor network.

How Success looks like in this role

• Leak-free vacuum chambers that pass helium-leak and pressure/vacuum-decay specs on first acceptance.
• Measurable reduction in weld-defect and field-leak rates.
• Lower cost per MW / per module through DFM and material optimization.
• Faster prototype-to-production and on-site commissioning cycle times.
• Production-ready manufacturing drawings and standardized, swappable modules delivered with minimal supervision.

Benefits

• Health insurance (fully covered) - We take care of your health, so you can focus on everything else that matters.
• Meal support for your workdays - Whether it's a busy day or a long one, we make sure you're sorted on the food front.
• Work directly with founders - No layers, no bureaucracy - just high ownership, fast decisions, and a chance to build alongside the core team.
• Time off that you'll actually use - 30 days of paid leave + 10 company holidays every year because rest isn't a luxury, it's necessary.