Research Scientist Manufacturing Assistance Center

Position: Research Scientist Manufacturing Assistance Center - (497230 )

Department
:
Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center
Salary
:
Commensurate with experience

Description

The Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston invites applications for a full-time, non-tenure track, Research Scientist.

The Research Scientist conducts and leads applied research,technology translation, and knowledge-transfer activities that moveuniversity-developed and evidence-based engineering methods intoindustrial practice. Working within the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC) and under the direction of a faculty

Principal Investigator or Faculty Director, the Research Scientistformulates technical questions arising from manufacturingchallenges; designs and executes applied investigations; analyzesoperational and experimental data; develops and validatessolutions; and disseminates findings through technical reports,training, demonstrations, and direct implementation with small andmedium-sized manufacturers.

The position is supported by external sponsored funding whoseexplicit purpose includes transferring knowledge and technology from academia to industry. Administrative coordination, project budgeting, stakeholder communication, and sponsor reporting are performed in support of the research and technology-transferportfolio and are not the position's primary purpose.

Primary Research Domains

• Manufacturing systems, industrial engineering, and production optimization
• Digital manufacturing, automation, data analytics, and artificial intelligence
• Product and process development, testing, validation, andscale-up
• Technology adoption, innovation diffusion, and measurement of economic and operational impact

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Leads applied research and technology-transfer projectsaddressing complex manufacturing and engineering problems. Definesresearch questions, technical objectives, methods, milestones, and measures of success in collaboration with faculty investigators and industry partners.

Designs and conducts field-based studies, assessments,experiments, pilots, and demonstrations involving manufacturing processes, industrial systems, automation, data analytics,artificial intelligence, product development, and related engineering technologies.

Collects, integrates, and analyzes quantitative and qualitativedata; interprets results; evaluates technical feasibility,implementation risk, and operational impact; and developsevidence-based findings and recommendations.

Translates findings and advanced engineering knowledge intodeployable tools, prototypes, workflows, decision frameworks, and implementation plans for small and medium-sized manufacturers.

Validates solutions in operational settings and refines methodsbased on observed results.

Develops technical reports, case studies, presentations,training materials, and other research products for sponsors,faculty collaborators, industry partners, and professionalaudiences. Contributes to publications and conference presentations when appropriate and permitted by sponsor and confidentiality requirements.

Serves as a technical liaison among university researchers,students, external sponsors, manufacturers, and subject-matter experts to identify relevant university capabilities and accelerateresponsible transfer of knowledge and technology to industry.

Contributes technical content, preliminary data, scopes ofwork, methods, evaluation plans, and impact projections toproposals for grants, cooperative agreements, contracts, and otherexternally sponsored research and technology-transfer activities.

Provides engineering and technical leadership to interdisciplinary project teams. May guide research staff,engineers, students, or external collaborators in research methods,data quality, technical implementation, safety, and…