The Department of Mechanical Engineering at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, (https://me.lafayette.edu), invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor beginning in July 2021. Candidates must have earned a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering or related field by the start of their appointment. The Department seeks a colleague who strives to be an engaging teacher through creative pedagogy, is an active scholar, effective student research mentor, and works to create an inclusive classroom. Candidates with teaching capability in mechanical design and/or systems and controls are encouraged to apply.
The Department values the ability to teach a broad range of mechanical engineering subjects, advise student design projects, and instruct hands-on laboratories. Candidates must demonstrate the potential to establish a research program that can engage undergraduate students and result in the publication of scholarly work in peer-reviewed venues. The Department, the Engineering Division, and the College support research through a start-up fund, opportunities for research assistant scholarships and internal grants and research fellowships, and annual support for conference travel. Additionally, the Engineering Division has a successful track record of supporting successful NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grants.
The Mechanical Engineering Department features small class sizes, hands-on laboratory experiences, and strong support for faculty research and professional development. The Department has eleven tenured/tenure-track faculty and graduates fifty to sixty majors each year, of whom approximately thirty percent are women. The program features laboratory experiences in each year of the curriculum and offers five to six student-selected capstone design projects annually. Our engineering students take advantage of attending a liberal arts institution with many of them choosing a dual major or a minor in a non-engineering program as well as participating in our nationally-recognized study abroad program that is integrated into our four-year degree.
To apply, please submit application materials, including a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a statement of teaching philosophy including course interests, a statement of research including research area, accomplishments, and direction online, and three letters of reference at: https://apply.interfolio.com/82498. In your cover letter, please address how your scholarship, teaching, and mentoring will support Lafayette College’s commitment to diversity and inclusion as articulated in the College’s diversity statement (diversity.lafayette.edu/diversity- statement/). Review of applications will begin March 8 and will continue until the position is filled.
Lafayette College is located within 75 miles from both New York City and Philadelphia and is a small, highly selective undergraduate institution emphasizing superior education in engineering and the liberal arts. Lafayette has offered engineering programs for over 150 years. Since inception, the programs have emphasized close interaction between students and faculty. In recent years the engineering programs have been ranked in the top 15 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report among undergraduate-focused institutions. In addition to an exceptional mechanical engineering program, a new interdisciplinary B.S. engineering program (https://bse.lafayette.edu) was offered for the first time in the fall of 2019. Mechanical Engineering has, and will continue to play, a central role in the development of this program that is grounded in systems engineering and enables students to focus in areas including robotics, bioengineering, and environment and energy. In combination with the new program, the Engineering Division is undergoing a 20,000 sq. ft renovation/expansion that includes new flexible use labs, classrooms, and collaboration spaces.
Lafayette College is deeply committed to creating a diverse community, one that is inclusive and responsive, and is supportive of each and all of its faculty, students, and staff. All members of the College community share in the responsibility for creating, maintaining, and developing a learning environment in which difference is valued, equity is sought, and inclusiveness is practiced. In cultivating this community, the Engineering programs at Lafayette have taken a national leadership role in diversity as evidenced by recently being recognized by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) for a commitment to the Engineering Deans Diversity Pledge. The ASEE currently lists Lafayette’s engineering programs among the top 10 in the nation for women on the faculty and among the top 20 for Bachelor’s degrees awarded to women. Lafayette College is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from women and underrepresented groups.