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Associate/Full Professor in Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion
University of Tennessee Knoxville

The Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) is seeking applicants at senior levels for two faculty positions in Energy Storage Research in the Departments of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering. This is in response to substantial growth in the battery manufacturing sector statewide, encompassing both large and small businesses. TCE is assembling a ‘mini-cluster’ of tenure-eligible faculty with research programs in Electrochemical Energy Storage, with one position each devoted to hires at the Associate Professor and Full Professor levels The faculty will be appointed in one of several engineering departments, based on their background and their preferences. Successful applicants will contribute to the teaching mission of the university in their discipline. A commitment to mentoring junior investigators is critical and demonstrated experience is highly desirable. The Knoxville campus of the University of Tennessee is seeking candidates who have the ability to contribute in meaningful ways to the diversity and intercultural goals of the University.

The successful applicants at each rank will have complimentary skills within the cluster and those present in the UTK community. They will have knowledge of battery-related science and/or engineering, notably testing and electrochemical characterization, or material preparation, or in key areas that are synergistic with conventional battery work, such as recycling or manufacturing of batteries. The work of the candidate can be focused on any combination of conventional batteries or redox flow batteries, including work focused on components of such devices. In addition, a connection to advanced manufacturing of batteries is of interest given the strengths of the university in this area and the strong regional interest in battery manufacturing. We seek collaboration-oriented faculty.

The Tickle College of Engineering is undergoing an unprecedented period of growth and success and anticipates adding over thirty new faculty over the next three years as part of ambitious cluster hiring campaigns lead by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, diversity, and intellectual property development for two years running. 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 UT’s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF). TCE currently has 185 T/TT and 67 NTT faculty in its seven academic departments and offers twelve 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 31st among public universities in the most recent U.S. News and World Report graduate rankings. Faculty in the college have won twenty-one early career awards (NSF, DoE, DARPA, AFOSR, and ARO) since 2016. In FY22, the college had NSF HERD research expenditures of $109 million.

Qualifications
A Ph.D. in a related Engineering or Science discipline is required; appropriate experience is desired. Candidates for appointment at the associate professor level must have an established research program and a record of securing external research funds to maintain and grow their program. For full professors, an internationally recognized research program and scholarly visibility are required.

Application Instructions

Applications for the Full Professor position should be submitted using online listing http://apply.interfolio.com/138048

Applications for the Associate Professor position should be submitted using online listing http://apply.interfolio.com/138102

All applications should include: (1) a cover letter articulating the applicant’s interest in and qualifications for this position, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) a select subset of publications, (4) a research statement outlining previous and future directions, (5) a teaching and mentoring statement, and (6) the names of three to five references. Applications will be reviewed continuously until the position is filled. Any additional questions may be sent to the search committee chair, UTK-ORNL Governor’s Chair Professor Tom Zawodzinski at tzawodzi@utk.edu@utk.edu.