The Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County invites applications for an open rank (i.e., tenured or tenure-track) faculty position in robotics and controls. In addition to scholarly activity and funded research, expected duties will also include undergraduate and graduate teaching, supervision and mentoring of student researchers, and professional service to the community. Applicants must have an earned doctoral degree in mechanical engineering or related field, and should be involved in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusive excellence.

The ME department currently consists of 14 tenured or tenure track faculty, a similar number of lecturers and adjunct faculty, 650 undergraduate majors and 70 full-time graduate students. The faculty are engaged in a broad effort to provide high quality education, by continuous improvement of the curriculum, by fostering student research, practical training, and internship, by promoting diversity and inclusion at all levels, and by providing all students with opportunities for peer-support, mentoring, and financial assistance. ME is actively partnering with the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and the UMBC Center for Women in Technology (CWIT) to foster increased involvement of women, veterans, and other under-represented groups in engineering and technology-creation, at all levels. The department has a dynamic and vibrant graduate program that offers M.S. and Ph.D. degree programs in four thematic areas: Biomechanical Engineering, Dynamic Systems and Design, Engineering Education, Solid Mechanics and Materials Science, and Thermal/Fluids Sciences. ME faculty with interests in robotics and controls will find ample opportunity for collaboration, within the department, with other departments particularly Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, and/or with other nearby institutions and companies.

UMBC is a dynamic public research university integrating teaching, research and service. Its 500+ acre campus is located in a thriving prosperous region with excellent infrastructure. As an Honors University, UMBC offers academically talented students a strong undergraduate liberal arts foundation as preparation for graduate and professional study, entry into the workforce, and community service and leadership. UMBC is dedicated to promoting cultural and ethnic diversity, social responsibility, and lifelong learning. The 2018 US News and World Report Best Colleges report ranked UMBC 9th in the Most Innovative National Universities category and 8th in Best Undergraduate Teaching in the National Universities category. The Chronicle of Higher Education named UMBC as a Great College to Work For and distinguished its commitment to work-life balance. Our strategic location in the Baltimore-Washington corridor assures easy access to the resources of many federal laboratories, state agencies, and high-tech companies, and facilitates equipment-sharing and scientific collaboration.

There are 25+ research centers at UMBC and 130+ companies housed in its two adjacent research parks. The campus is < 10 minutes from an international airport (BWI) and multiple rail stations (Amtrak, MARC). UMBC has special programs supporting startup mainly in cybersecurity, transportation, clean energy, life sciences, and/or microfabrication. The campus is surrounded by one of the greatest concentrations of commercial, cultural and scientific activity in the nation. Located on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore offers all of the advantages of modern, urban life, including professional sports, major art galleries, theaters and a world class symphony orchestra. The city's Inner Harbor area is an exciting center for entertainment and commerce. The nation's capital, Washington DC, is a great tourist attraction with historical monuments and museums. Other nearby institutions include the John Hopkins University, UMB, UMCP, Naval Academy, U Pennsylvania, George Mason, and U Delaware plus a very large number of high tech companies, military bases, and federal agencies. UMBC is one of nine partners in The Universities at Shady Grove, a new consortium of teaching universities operating within the University System of Maryland, and located in Rockville, MD.

Since its inception, UMBC has stood for opportunity, diversity, and inclusive excellence. Times Higher Education recently ranked UMBC #3 in the nation for social and economic impact. Many of its faculty are engaged in cutting edge science, technology development, and/or entrepreneurial activity and ME research has been funded by a large number of federal agencies (e.g., DOD, NASA, NSF, NIH, ARO, ARL, ONR, AFOSP, DOE, DARPA, USDA, NIST), not-for-profit entities (e.g, World Bank, CIMMYT, TEDCO), and/or corporations. All ME faculty and many ME students attend national or international conferences on a regular basis. The successful applicant's research interests could span classical control theory to modern industrial control systems to still-emerging technologies like machine vision, self-driving vehicles, or autonomous surgical robots.