Description

In April 2022, Saint Louis University launched the Taylor Geospatial Institute (TGI) – the nation’s leading geospatial research collaborative, comprising eight of the Midwest’s outstanding research institutions. The TGI is led by Saint Louis University and includes the Danforth Plant Science Center, Harris-Stowe State University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Missouri–Columbia, University of Missouri–St. Louis, and Washington University in St. Louis. TGI’s vision is to be the nation’s leader in geospatial science research and accelerate the St. Louis region’s development as a global geospatial center of excellence. TGI is harnessing the power of partnerships with industry, government agencies, and research entities to grow talent and develop core geospatial science and adjacent fields that enable positive impacts on some of the world’s greatest challenges including food systems, geospatial health, and national security. 

Saint Louis University is a Catholic, Jesuit institution dedicated to student learning, research, healthcare, and service. With the goal of becoming a world-class leader and creating a lasting geospatial impact, SLU intends to hire strategically across the University in areas that directly intersect with the TGI. Enabled by the legacy gift supporting TGI, SLU has the opportunity to hire approximately 20 faculty in the 2024-2026 academic years, establishing its position as a world-class research University in geospatial science and adjacent fields while simultaneously multiplying its excellence in its teaching and service mission. This call for faculty positions is part of this exciting cluster hire initiative in geospatial science and adjacent fields. 

The SLU School of Science and Engineering is interdisciplinary by design – bringing together engineering (Aerospace and Mechanical, Biomedical, Civil, and Electrical and Computer Engineering) with Aviation, Computer Science, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The School offers a wide range of graduate and undergraduate degrees across these departments. SSE will make seven new TGI-related hires in the current academic year. 

The Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering has 13 full-time faculty and offers bachelors, master’s and doctoral degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. Research areas include design, robotics, mechanics, materials, computational and experimental thermofluids, UAS, and space systems. In addition to research and teaching partnerships with other faculty in the School, the Department benefits from adjunct faculty from local companies who bring industry relevance to the classroom and lab. The Department provides a collaborative, entrepreneurial environment for success and is experiencing growth in undergraduate and graduate enrollment and interdisciplinary collaborative research productivity. The Department is in a season of significant, targeted hiring growth and will increase its faculty count by 25% over the next two years.

The Department of Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering in the School of Science and Engineering (SSE) of Saint Louis University (SLU) seeks exceptional candidates in the intersection between aerospace engineering and geospatial applications. This hire can be at any level, tenure-track (assistant professor) or tenured (associate professor, professor). With several open positions, the Department is establishing a new research and teaching cluster in autonomous aerospace vehicles as well as a broader research cluster in geospatial applications across the Department, School, and University. 

The Department, in collaboration with the Taylor Geospatial Institute, seeks candidates in the area of Position, Navigation, and Timing. The primary focus is alternatives to the existing GPS/GNSS navigation methods - either when the existing methods are denied or, in the case of interplanetary missions, the methods are unavailable. Candidates working in related issues of navigation, signals and timing are encouraged to apply. 

Responsibilities: 

• Advancing the growth and elevating the profile of the Taylor Geospatial Institute: while the appointee will be a full member of the Department with the normal responsibilities of the faculty, the Institute will be a home for their research, scholarship, and intellectual production.
• Generating sponsored research – expectations include significant effort towards developing and maintaining a robust externally funded research program involving graduate and undergraduate students, post-docs, and other research personnel. Startup packages are available for qualified candidates, as is mentoring for proposal and collaborator development. As part of the TGI cluster hire, this position is expected to contribute to the collaborative multidisciplinary work of the TGI.
• Teaching – all faculty in the Department are expected to teach at the undergraduate and graduate levels. They create inclusive, engaging teaching experiences to develop industry-ready, entrepreneurially minded, and socially conscious engineers. The teaching load will be scaled according to external research funding, with allowances for new faculty to develop their research portfolio. The Department will provide resources to support the development of coursework.
• Student mentoring – Saint Louis University strives to educate the whole person, and thus an important component of faculty responsibilities is active engagement in undergraduate and graduate student mentoring.
• Service – while new faculty are expected to prioritize their teaching and research portfolios, some service to the Department, School and University is expected. 

Requirements

Minimum qualifications: 

• An earned Ph.D. in aerospace or mechanical engineering or a related field.
• Demonstrated excellence in research and scholarly activity, including peer reviewed journal and conference papers, grant writing, mentoring students, and developing an independent research agenda.
• Excellence in teaching as demonstrated through previous teaching and teaching preparation experiences.
• Desire to engage with SLU's mission-driven learning and outreach activities. 

Preferred qualifications:

• Established record of interdisciplinary collaboration and impactful research work in the geospatial field.
• Research experiences including prior faculty appointments and post-doctoral fellowships.
• Demonstrated ability and vision to collaborate and build a multidisciplinary initiative in pursuit of enhancing undergraduate and graduate education.
• Relevant teaching experience that promotes hands-on, experiential learning.