Associate Research Professor in Transportation Infrastructure, Materials and Systems

Position: Associate Research Professor in Transportation Infrastructure, Materials and Intelligent Systems
Job Description:

The Center for Transportation Infrastructure Systems (CTIS) at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) invites applications for a full-time Associate Research Professor seeking to advance the future of transportation infrastructure, materials, and intelligent systems. This is an opportunity to join a rapidly growing, well-funded research program focused on delivering high-impact, real-world solutions for infrastructure performance, resilience, and sustainability.

CTIS serves as the primary hub for transportation, pavement, and geotechnical engineering research at UTEP and is one of the best-equipped transportation research facilities in the Southwest. CTIS conducts both basic and applied research focused on the performance, safety, durability, and management of transportation infrastructure. Research areas include pavement evaluation and design, transportation planning, environmental quality, asset and infrastructure management, structures, and safety.

CTIS is strongly committed to workforce development, with undergraduate and graduate research assistants working closely alongside faculty and research engineers. More than 40 students are actively involved in CTIS projects at any given time. The Center maintains strong partnerships with governmental agencies, industry sponsors, and academic collaborators to ensure impactful, implementable research outcomes.

Our program is intentionally broad and collaborative. We welcome candidates working across pavement engineering, infrastructure materials, sensing technologies, data analytics, and system-level decision-making.

Position Overview

The successful candidate will lead externally funded, interdisciplinary research programs and demonstrate the ability to:

• Develop and sustain externally funded research initiatives
• Conduct research at the intersection of materials, infrastructure systems, and data analytics
• Apply experimental, computational, and/or field-based methodologies
• Translate research outcomes into practical implementation, standards, and engineering practice
• Collaborate effectively with transportation agencies, industry partners, and interdisciplinary teams

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and contribute to innovative, externally funded research in transportation infrastructure, materials, and related systems
• Develop and apply advanced experimental, analytical, and/or data-driven approaches for evaluating and improving infrastructure performance
• Integrate laboratory, field, and/or modeling efforts to advance understanding of material and system behavior
• Pursue and secure external research funding from federal agencies, industry partners, and infrastructure stakeholders
• Disseminate research through high-impact publications, technical reports, and contributions to standards and best practices
• Mentor and support graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and interdisciplinary teams

Requirements:

Required Qualifications:

PhD in Civil Engineering or a closely related areas of interest, but not limited to:

Pavement materials and characterization, including experimental and analytical approaches to evaluate material behavior and performance

Infrastructure systems and performance analysis, including pavement design, asset management, and data-informed decision-making

Sensing, monitoring, and emerging technologies applied to infrastructure evaluation, performance tracking, and durability assessment

• Demonstrated experience managing or contributing to externally funded research projects, including responsibility for technical deliverables such as proposals, technical memoranda, and final reports
• Experience writing or co-writing competitive research proposals submitted to federal agencies, state DOTs, or industry sponsors
• Peer-reviewed publication record in refereed journals appropriate to career stage, with evidence of ongoing scholarly productivity
• Experience presenting research at professional and technical conferences (for example, TRB, ASCE, or equivalent)
• Experience supervising and mentoring graduate students (MS or PhD level) and undergraduate research assistants in a laboratory, field, or computational research environment
• Demonstrated ability to work within interdisciplinary research teams and to coordinate across multiple concurrent projects

We welcome applications from candidates with expertise in pavement engineering, transportation infrastructure, and related fields. While we aim to strengthen key strategic areas, we also encourage applicants with complementary or interdisciplinary backgrounds to apply. In particular, candidates with experience in laboratory testing, field evaluation, modeling, or data-driven methods are strongly encouraged to apply.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience serving as PI or Co-PI on funded research projects, with demonstrated responsibility for scope, budget, and timeline management
• Track record of independently developing and submitting competitive research proposals that resulted in awarded funding
• Experience directing the full arc of a…