Working at CDL
Staff work at the CDL lab in Charlottesville, VACDL employs professionals with a wide variety of skillsets to design, develop, and build cutting-edge science and technology solutions for radio astronomy, defense, and commercial applications. We are always looking for electrical engineers, electronics engineers, mechanical engineers, RF engineers and technicians, machinists, electromagnetics researchers, and more.
Join NRAO and help CDL build next-generation technologies and solutions for radio astronomy, commercial, and defense applications.
Our Labs and Facilities
The Central Development Laboratory is located in the NRAO Technology Center (NTC) building near Charlottesville, VA. With 38,000 square feet of lab and office space, NTC has a full range of tools to design, build, and test systems such as low-noise cryogenic receivers. The NTC also has a chemistry lab to produce components with complex internal structures using electroforming techniques. Combined with CDL’s world-class expertise this allows NRAO to develop the next generation of radio technology.
Co-op Program
The CDL Co-op Program provides opportunities for undergraduate students in engineering or applied physics to enrich their classroom learning experience. Students in this program will work under the supervision of a CDL staff advisor in one or more areas of: instrument design, development, fabrication and testing or digital instrumentation.
“My co-op at CDL was an important, engaging, and enriching experience that helped me learn many new things while also enhancing skills I already had.”
Mathias Mereles
Sofia D’Alessandro and Lacee Savage participated in NRAO’s “Women in Engineering Program”, which is made possible by a generous grant from the Heising-Simons Foundation.
Employment Opportunities
CDL employs professionals with a wide variety of skillsets to design, develop, and build cutting-edge science and technology solutions for radio astronomy, defense, and commercial applications. We are always looking for electrical engineers, electronics engineers, mechanical engineers, RF engineers and technicians, machinists, electromagnetics researchers and more.
Join NRAO and help CDL build next-generation technologies and solutions for radio astronomy, commercial, and defense applications.
View our current open positions here.