Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Marine Energy

The Department of Ocean and Resources Engineering (ORE) and the Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) within the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) at the University of Hawaii at Mnoa (UHM) invite applications for a full-time, tenure-track, 11-month faculty position in Ocean Engineering at the rank of Assistant Professor, or Associate Professor for exceptionally qualified investigators.

Hawaii’s unique location, climate, and marine-oriented activities make UHM an ideal place for education and research in marine energy harvesting and ocean and resources engineering in general. The Hawai’i Marine Energy Center (HMEC), within HNEI, is focused on growing as a Hawai’i and Pacific Island center of outreach and expertise in the field of marine energy applied to the unique needs of island communities, and on expanding its reach as one of four Department of Energy funded National Marine Energy Centers.

Educational and research emphasis in ORE includes coastal, offshore, ocean resources, and oceanographic engineering. With this position, we are excited to add new research leadership to this HNEI/ORE marine energy team.

The successful candidate will have research and field experience related to ocean engineering - experience that can be readily applied to this marine energy emphasis. Ideally, the candidate will also have extensive experience managing large research groups focused on application-specific tasks, a track record of successful completion of those tasks, and an in-depth understanding of systems engineering approaches to project management and process improvement.

Research areas include, but are not limited to, wave energy converter (WEC) design and optimization, ocean thermal energy conversion, portable energy converters for powering in-situ oceanographic equipment in remote locations, and marine power delivery and grid integration.

UHM is the only recognized Native Hawaiian-serving R1 university and draws students from a diverse population including Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Asian ethnicities. The ORE Department and HNEI are committed to serving and affirming our unique community and culture in the center of the Pacific Ocean and to continued support of research and teaching excellence.

• Develop and sustain an extramurally funded research program
• Teach graduate courses (equivalent of 6 credit hours per year, 3 of which must be in a traditional classroom setting).
• Mentor and support students and postdoctoral researchers
• Publish in peer-reviewed journals and in other fora as appropriate
• Serve the department, school, university, and scientific and professional communities
• Coordinate use, maintenance, and oversight of field installations, such as the Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site (WETS)
• Assume a leadership role in the Hawai’i Marine Energy Center (HMEC)

• PhD degree from a college or university of recognized standing in a discipline closely related to Ocean/Marine Engineering
• Demonstrated ability as a teacher and/or student mentor
• Demonstrated capability for high quality research
• Excellent communication skills
• Practical and/or professional research experience in fields of relevance to the advancement of marine energy technologies
• Professionalism in meeting and conferring with others

• Same as Assistant Professor minimum qualifications with the addition of the following qualifications:
• A minimum of four years of service as Assistant Professor or equivalent

• Demonstrated ability to attract extramural funding
• Licensure as a Professional Engineer
• Practical and/or professional experience that compliments one or more of the HNEI/ORE unit disciplines and existing expertise
• Experience working with or in a research institute at an institution of higher learning
• Expertise managing multi-disciplinary teams
• Demonstrated ability to foster a respectful and collegial work environment
• Knowledge in core Wave Energy Converter (WEC) topics such as theory behind wave energy conversion, wave resource assessment, numerical and experimental…