The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech invites applications for a faculty position in the area of Robotics and Autonomous Systems. This position will be at Assistant or Associate Professor level.

The successful candidate for this position will have expertise in any emerging field of Robotics and Autonomous systems with emphasis on areas including but not limited to surgical, micro-nano robotics, human-machine interaction, machine learning, bio-inspired and bio-hybrid robotics, social robotics, and synthetic biology, just to mention a few, which are complementary to already existing expertise in the Department.  Within the aforementioned areas, the selection criteria will place more emphasis on the strength of the scholarship and less on the specific area of the candidate.  We seek the strongest candidates in these areas with experience in theory, modeling, computation, experimentation or a combination thereof.

Virginia Tech is committed to diversity and seeks a broad spectrum of candidates including women, underrepresented minorities, and people with disabilities.  Virginia Tech is a recipient of the National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award to increase the participation of women in academic science and engineering careers (www.advance.vt.edu).

The Department of Mechanical Engineering (http://www.me.vt.edu/), which includes a Nuclear Engineering Program, has 67 faculty, 30 affiliate faculty, annual research expenditures of over $18M, and a current enrollment of 300 graduate students with 180 students at doctoral level, and over 1100 undergraduate students.  With about 400 BS ME degrees awarded each year, the Department is the third largest in the nation in graduating mechanical engineers (2017 ASEE Data.)  The Department is ranked 15th (8th in public schools) and 23rd (12th in public schools) out of all mechanical engineering departments in the nation in undergraduate and graduate education, respectively, by the 2019 U.S. News and World Report.  The department operates under five thrust areas: Robotics and Dynamical Systems (RADS); Bio, Micro, and Nano Systems (BMNS); Energy Engineering and Science (ESS); Design, Materials, and Manufacturing (DMM); and Nuclear Engineering and Science (NES). The Department includes several research centers, and its faculty members are engaged in diverse multidisciplinary research activities. The mechanical engineering faculty also benefit from a number of university-wide institutes such as the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science (ICTAS), the Biocomplexity Institute, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI); College-level centers such as the Rolls-Royce University Technology Center (UTC) and the state-level Commonwealth of Virginia Center for Aerospace Propulsion Systems (CCAPS), the Virginia Center for Autonomous Systems (VaCAS) and the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM). Blacksburg is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains and is widely recognized by national rankings as a vibrant and desirable community with affordable living, world-class outdoor recreation, an active arts community, and a diverse international population.

Applicants must hold a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering or a closely related discipline.  We are seeking highly qualified candidates committed to a career in research and teaching.  The successful candidate will be responsible for mentoring graduate and undergraduate students, teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and developing an internationally recognized research program.

Candidates should apply online at www.jobs.vt.edu to posting number 510600. Applicants should submit a cover letter, a curriculum vitae including a list of published journal articles, a one-page research statement, a brief statement on teaching preferences, and the names of five references that the search committee may contact. To ensure full consideration, applications should be received by November 1, 2019, but applications will be considered until the position is filled.

General inquiries about the position should be addressed to the search committee chair, Prof. Alexander Leonessa (aleoness@vt.edu). For assistance submitting the application please contact Ms. Mandy McCoy (amangs1@vt.edu), (540) 231-4162.