Assistant Professor - Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Massachusetts Lowell

Job Info

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Job no: 522632
Position type: Faculty Full Time
Benefit Status: Benefited-Union
Campus: UMass Lowell
Department: Electrical & Computer Eng
Salary: Salary commensurate with experience
Applications Open: Apr 10 2024
Applications Close: Open until filled

General Summary of Position:

The Francis College of Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell is searching for outstanding candidates for one full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor position in Electrical and Computer Engineering. The college includes 120 faculty members, over 30% of whom are women, and has just under 3,000 undergraduate and over 1,000 graduate students. The University serves the multicultural population of the Commonwealth and has been nationally recognized for its commitment to diversity by the American Society for Engineering Education and is also a Minority Serving Institution (MSI). UMass Lowell is a Carnegie Doctoral High Research (RU/H) university ranked in the top tier of US News' National Universities. The College has bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs in all departments.

The campus is situated on the banks of the Merrimack River, a beautiful and culturally diverse area, and the birthplace of America's industrial revolution. Cotton mills in Lowell, the only city to be awarded national park status by the U.S. National Park Service, opened in 1814, and the city has been a hub of invention and innovation ever since. UML continues that legacy of innovation throughout the campus. Its location 30 miles northwest of Boston offers unsurpassed enrichment of every type, including fine arts, dining, historical sites, and of course sports! Just north of Lowell, the grandeur of New Hampshire's White Mountains unfolds not far from the storied ski lodges of Vermont.

This tenure-track faculty position is initially being funded for up to five years through a $1.5 million award from the NSF Faculty Development in geoSpace Science (FDSS) program. The award will support the nine-month salary of the faculty for the duration of the award as well as up to two months of summer support for each of the first three years of the award. At the end of the five-year award, the campus will assume the responsibility of the nine-month academic salary.

The aim of the NSF FDSS program is to integrate topics in geospace science including solar and space physics and space weather research into natural sciences or engineering or related departments at U.S. institutions of higher education (IHE). FDSS also stimulates the development of undergraduate or graduate programs or curricula capable of training the next generation of leaders in geospace science. Geospace science is interdisciplinary in nature, and FDSS awardees are expected to establish partnerships within multiple parts of the IHE. The focus of this FDSS position is the integration of space weather research into electrical engineering and physics.

This FDSS hire will be the catalyst to accelerate the growth of the two new Aerospace PhD pathways, i.e. the PhD in Aerospace Sciences in the Kennedy College of Sciences and the PhD in Aerospace Engineering in the Francis College of Engineering. The FDSS hire will close the gap between the physics and electrical engineering disciplines and close the research-to-operations-to-research (R2O-O2R) loop in both Geospace Sciences and Space Communications. The FDSS faculty will be the first hire into the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department with the skillsets for Space Weather Research and RF Communications and will become initially engaged in research by filling this gap in support of ongoing research and in the development of new research proposals that can be pursued as a result of the added talent to the current team of faculty doing space-related research. Thus, the FDSS hire will open the team to new research opportunities.

The FDSS faculty will benefit from the availability of the Massachusetts Alliance for Space Technology and Sciences (MASTS), a recently established partnership involving academia, industry, and government institutions led by the University of Massachusetts Lowell. The goal of MASTS is to create an enterprise that will develop all necessary facilities for nanosatellite missions with a focus on communications and remote sensing from mission design to hardware development and testing to flight operations and data analysis. To be successful, such an enterprise has been designed to be interdisciplinary. Its membership includes two community colleges, five research universities, seven small and medium enterprises (SMEs), four large corporations, and a NASA Center. The membership is growing as are the products of research and innovation.

This new faculty will have opportunities to collaborate in research and teaching with faculty across the Kennedy College of Sciences and the Francis College of Engineering. We value excellence and innovation in curriculum design and courses that promote experiential learning and professional skills for our students.

Minimum Qualifications (Required):

Applicants must have earned a doctoral degree in Electrical Engineering, Physics, or a closely related discipline.

For this FDSS tenure-track position in Electrical and Computer Engineering, we seek candidates at the Assistant Professor level with expertise in one or more of the following areas:

Space weather modeling

Space weather instrumentation and experimentation

Effects of space weather on the ionosphere and on critical space and terrestrial infrastructure such as communication, navigation, and power systems

Preferred Qualifications:

• Record of successful teaching experience at the college level
• Demonstrated excellence in research and publication
• Postdoctoral research and previous experience working with industry desirable but not required

Additional Considerations:

• Commitment to develop and to sustain a robust externally funded research program
• Dedication to teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Electrical and Computer Engineering
• The ability to work effectively with diverse groups
• Candidates with experience in engineering education and design of effective and inclusive pedagogical approaches will be given strong consideration

The University of Massachusetts Lowell is committed to increasing diversity in its faculty, staff, and student populations, as well as in curriculum and support programs, while promoting an inclusive and nurturing environment. We seek candidates who can contribute to this goal and encourage candidates to apply and to identify their strengths in these areas. All applicants must submit a diversity statement (please see required documents below).

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Applications received by May 15, 2024 will be considered in the first review of candidates. However, later applications may be considered for this position. The search will close after an adequate number of qualified applications are received.

Please include the following documents with your application:

• Curriculum Vitae
• Cover Letter
• Teaching Statement/Philosophy
• Diversity Statement: In this statement, please describe how you can support UMass Lowell's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), justice and belonging. Describe how your teaching, service, research, and/or leadership (as applicable) has supported the success of students and/or colleagues; and/or describe the impact others have had on you as relating to DEI and your future plans for supporting DEI.
• Publications in peer-reviewed journals (three significant, relevant publications). Please upload publications into one file.
• Research Statement
• Names and contact information of three references will be required during the application process.

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