Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Mechatronics

The Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, Queen’s University invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor with specialization in Mechatronics, with a preferred starting date of July 1, 2018. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. 

Candidates must have a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering or a related discipline completed by the start date of the appointment. Our Department is committed to mentoring junior faculty and welcomes applications from candidates who have received a Ph.D. within the last 10 years, but no later than the start date of this appointment. Preferably this Ph.D. is combined with postdoctoral, industrial, post-secondary teaching and/or other relevant experience.

Providing opportunities for junior faculty to develop a strong teaching and research profile and maintaining an environment where all faculty can thrive is our top priority. Support for course development and delivery is provided by the Department, the Queen’s Centre for Teaching and Learning, and the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science in addition to the Dean’s Educational Advancement Grants and access to a range of educational technologies as well as the Faculty Teaching and Learning Team. Support of junior faculty to develop strong research programs incudes a significant Research Initiation Grant, grant writing workshops and review services, funding support for graduate students through the Queen’s Graduate Award program, and one-to-one mentorship from senior faculty members.

The successful candidate will provide evidence of high quality scholarly output that demonstrates potential for independent research leading to peer assessed publications and the securing of external research funding, as well as strong potential for outstanding teaching contributions at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and an ongoing commitment to academic and pedagogical excellence in support of the Department’s programs. Candidates should provide evidence of their ability to work collaboratively in an interdisciplinary and student-centred environment. The successful candidate will also be required to make substantive contributions through service to the Department, the Faculty, the University, and/or the broader community.

This position is part of an exciting new interdisciplinary initiative within the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, which also extends across Queen’s more broadly, focusing on Human-Machine collaboration. A significant amount of space in a new building (occupancy expected in September 2018) will be dedicated to research, design, teaching, and laboratory facilities directly related to Human-Machine collaboration. This space will support leading-edge mechatronics research, which may include electro-mechanical devices and their interaction with biological systems, assistive technologies, as well as sensing, control, predictive health monitoring, and computational modeling of these systems.

The successful candidate will be expected to initiate a leading-edge research program, apply for and obtain external funding to support research and graduate students, supervise graduate students and teach undergraduate courses in the core curriculum of Mechanical and Materials Engineering as well as graduate courses in their specific areas of research interest. In addition, the successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the development of curriculum and undertake administrative responsibilities through service to the University, Faculty, Department and engineering profession. Registration as a Professional Engineer in Ontario, or eligibility to acquire registration in Canada, is an essential requirement. Renewal of this appointment will be contingent on attaining P.Eng. licensure.

Queen's University is one of Canada's leading research-intensive universities. It is located in historic Kingston on the shores of Lake Ontario. Kingston’s residents enjoy an outstanding quality of life with a wide range of cultural, recreational, and creative opportunities.

The Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Queen's University (http://me.queensu.ca) has approximately 30 faculty members working in the areas of Biomechanical Engineering, Design & Manufacturing, and Energy & Fluid Systems, and Materials Engineering. The Department currently has an enrolment of over 500 undergraduate students and about 150 graduate students. Research in the Department is supported by four research chairs: Tier 1 CRC in Mechanics of Materials, NSERC Industrial Research Chair in Nuclear Materials, Tier 1 CRC in Computational Turbulence, and Queen’s Research Chair in Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Queen’s University and Kingston General Hospital (KGH) have identified human mobility as a major health and social issue. Nearly one-third of the population will be significantly affected by musculoskeletal disease during their lifetime. However, current treatments are often invasive, costly and are in ever-increasing demand with increased life expectancy. The Human Mobility Research Centre (HMRC) serves to encourage and facilitate collaboration between researchers in medicine, engineering, health sciences and information technology that fosters innovation through musculoskeletal projects (see http://www.hmrc.ca).

The University invites applications from all qualified individuals. Queen's is committed to employment equity and diversity in the workplace and welcomes applications from women, visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and LGBTQ persons. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, in accordance with Canadian Immigration requirements, Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents of Canada will be given priority.

To comply with federal laws, the University is obliged to gather statistical information about how many applicants for each job vacancy are Canadian citizens/permanent residents of Canada. Applicants need not identify their country of origin or citizenship, however, all applications must include one of the following statements: “I am a Canadian citizen/permanent resident of Canada”; OR, “I am not a Canadian citizen/permanent resident of Canada”. Applications that do not include this information will be deemed incomplete.

A complete application consists of:

• a cover letter (including one of the two statements regarding Canadian citizenship/permanent resident status specified in the previous paragraph);
• a current Curriculum Vitae (including a list of publications);
• a statement of research interests;
• a statement of teaching interests and experience (including teaching outlines and evaluations if available), and;
• the names and full contact information of three referees.

Applications should be submitted on or before January 15, 2018. Applicants are encouraged to send all documents in their application package electronically  as  PDFs  to  Karen Richardson at karen.richardson@queensu.ca, although hard copy applications may alternatively be submitted to:

Dr. Chris Mechefske

Professor and Interim Head

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Room 319, McLaughlin Hall

130 Stuart St Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario CANADA K7L 3N6

The University will provide support in its recruitment processes to applicants with disabilities, including accommodation that takes into account an applicant’s accessibility needs. If you require accommodation during the interview process, please contact Karen Richardson at karen.richardson@queensu.ca.

Additional information about Queen’s University, which may be of interest to prospective faculty members, can be found at www.queensu.ca/facultyrecruitment.

Academic staff at Queen’s University are governed by a Collective Agreement between the University and the Queen’s University Faculty Association (QUFA), which is posted at http://queensu.ca/facultyrelations/faculty-librarians-and-archivists/collective-agreement and at http://www.qufa.ca