The Mechanical Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering (https://mabe.utk.edu) Department at UTK is seeking exceptional candidates to fill one tenure-track position at the Assistant/Associate Professor level starting August 1, 2025. This search is part of a cluster hire to add faculty across multiple departments with expertise in Mobility.  More information about the Institute of Future Mobility can be obtained here: https://research.utk.edu/mobility/

UT is searching for additional faculty to strengthen the university?s position as a global leader in smart transportation; this position is among them. Recruitment into the Future Mobility Institute cluster creates opportunities to build bold agendas that advance big ideas. The successful candidate will join a team of approximately 40 established and successful faculty with shared and complementary research interests in electrification and electric motors, connectivity, autonomous and shared transportation, as well as policy, supply chain transportation, etc. and a strong desire to grow the scholarly and educational impact of their work. For early career faculty, the cluster also offers a unique framework for professional development and mentorship within a rich transdisciplinary environment.

 The ideal candidate for this position has a collaborative mindset and prioritizes working with colleagues to realize shared research and educational achievements, including large-scale proposals, joint publications, and new transdisciplinary curricular programming. As Tennessee?s flagship land-grant institution, UT is particularly interested in recruiting candidates who are deeply connected to the organizations and communities in which their work will have translational impact, as well as those who will contribute to a climate that values diversity and inclusion.

The Tickle College of Engineering

The Tickle College of Engineering is in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth and success including adding over 30 new faculty as part of ambitious cluster hiring campaigns led by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, diversity, intellectual property development, and USNWR rank in the past three years. New facilities include the state-of-the art Zeanah Engineering Complex, the University of Tennessee Manufacturing and Design Enterprise (TN-MADE) facility, and the Innovation South building now under construction that will house UTK?s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF). TCE currently has 185 Tenure/Tenure Track and 67 Non-Tenure Track faculty in its seven academic departments and offers 12 undergraduate, 16 MS, and 15 PhD degree programs. Affiliated with TCE and located in Tullahoma, Tennessee, the UT Space Institute is a hub of aerospace and defense research. The college is also home to eight research centers and three interdisciplinary institutes. With approximately 3,800 undergraduate and 1,150 graduate students, the college sits 29th among public universities in the most recent U.S. News and World Report graduate rankings. Faculty in the college have won 21 early career awards (NSF, DoE, DARPA, AFOSR, and ARO) since 2016. In FY22, the college had NSF HERD research expenditure of $109 million.

Department of Mechanical Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering

The MABE Department currently has 45 tenured or tenure-track faculty as well as 7 Lecturers, 9 Research Professors, and 1 Clinical Associate Professor. There are 1,662 undergraduate and 249 graduate students pursuing degrees at all levels in mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or biomedical engineering. The department?s research expenditure is $26M this year.

The City of Knoxville

The City of Knoxville is a hidden gem with an elegant and walkable downtown, rich and varied nightlife, intercultural events, vibrant neighborhoods, eclectic restaurants, and amazing access to outdoor activities of all kinds as well as exciting cultural events throughout the year. From Knoxville?s TYS Airport, Knoxville has nonstop flights to 22 major airports in the US, including direct flights to cities such as DC, NYC, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, and Miami. UTK is in Knoxville TN, within an easy driving distance to Nashville, Atlanta, Asheville, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In addition, the City of Knoxville and the surrounding areas boast great K-12 schools and one of the most highly educated populations in the entire US. From 2007 to 2017, Tennessee?s overall economy growth ranked #7 among all 50 US states. In 2019, US News ranked the State of Tennessee in the US as the #1 in fiscal stability, #12 in economy, and #13 in infrastructure.

This hire at the open-rank (associate/assistant professor) level is expected to propose, advocate, shape, and implement the roadmap to establish a strong footprint and nationwide presence in the cross-cutting field of Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Mobility. The ideal candidate will have a strong research focus on self-driving vehicles, hardware-in-the-loop testing, modeling, control and optimization of vehicular systems and related topics in intelligent transportation.

Applicants must have a doctorate degree in ME or in a related field to be hired at the associate/assistant professor level and must also have a strong desire to conduct groundbreaking research in the electrification, automation, and shared mobility of transportation that will move future mobility technologies to deployment. It is paramount that potential senior candidates exhibit strong leadership not only in developing major grants and be well established in their own fields, but also provide mentoring to junior faculty in the cluster, to nurture and advance their career development.

The hire will also be expected to support the CTR (Center of Transportation Research), a nationally and internationally recognized research entity at The University of Tennessee since 1972 focused on the transportation arena. The center has over $10 million in expenditures yearly. The center leads the USDOT-funded Center for Freight Transportation for Efficient and Resilient Supply Chain, a Tier 1 University Transportation Center, and is part of the Center for Regional and Rural Connected Communities and the Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety.

Candidates for Assistant Professor should have a demonstrated potential to succeed as a junior faculty at a state flagship campus. Candidates for Associate Professor should have a demonstrated record of publishing in appropriate journals, securing and executing externally funded research, and internal and external service to their professional community.

Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2024, and will continue until the position is filled. Individuals interested in applying for this position should submit electronically at apply.interfolio.com/

Applications should include

1. a Cover Letter articulating the applicant?s interest in and qualifications for this position,
2. a curriculum vitae,
3. a research statement outlining previous and future directions,
4. a teaching and mentoring statement, and
5. the names of three to five references.

Any additional questions may be sent to Dr. Subhadeep Chakraborty (TCE cluster hire chair) at schakrab@utk.edu

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment and admission without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, and parental status, or any other characteristic protected by federal or state law. In accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Tennessee affirmatively states that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or disability in its education programs and activities, and this policy extends to employment by the university. Requests for accommodations of a disability should be directed to the Office of Equity & Diversity, 1840 Melrose Avenue Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-3560 or oed@utk.edu or (865)974-2498. Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color and national origin), Title IX (sex), Section 504 (disability), the ADA (disability), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age), sexual orientation, or veteran status should be directed to the Office of Investigation & Resolution 216 Business Incubator Building 2450 E.J. Chapman Drive Knoxville, Tennessee 37996 or (865)974-0717 or investigations@utk.edu.

About University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Our primary mission is to move forward the frontiers of human knowledge and enrich and elevate the citizens of the state of Tennessee, the nation, and the world. As the preeminent research-based, land-grant university in the state, UT embodies the spirit of excellence in teaching, research, scholarship, creative activity, outreach, and engagement attained by the nation’s finest public research institutions.

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