The Boston University College of Engineering (BU ENG) has an opening for a Director of our new Robotics and Autonomous Systems Teaching and Innovation Center (RASTIC), which has been launched with substantial funding by the Innovation Institute at the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. RASTIC’s scope includes the entire field of robotics and autonomous systems, with initial emphasis on Artificial Intelligence (AI) research and its applications in robotics and autonomy, smart-cities, and soft-robotics. The ideal candidate will also be appointed as a Lecturer, or Senior Lecturer, or Associate/Full Professor of Practice in Mechanical Engineering (MechE) or Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) or a split appointment if applicable, depending on their level of experience.

RASTIC’s mission includes:

Becoming an incubator of student and faculty ideas that can lead to commercialization and industry adoption.
Becoming a hub of student projects, supporting students in BU’s M.S. Program in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS), supporting undergraduate capstone projects in Robotics, and engaging with the large cohort of Ph.D. students and faculty pursuing research in Robotics, Autonomy, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods in these fields.
Engaging with the Massachusetts and national robotics industry, facilitating their recruitment of student talent with Robotics, Autonomy, and AI expertise, and enabling industry-University partnerships.

Responsibilities of the RASTIC Director will include:

Playing a coordinating role during the creation phase of a 2,000 sq. foot facility which will house RASTIC.
Nurturing relationships with corporate sponsors and innovation partners along with the broader robotics business communities.
Curriculum development and teaching in the areas of Robotics. An active role in supervising student projects.

Candidates must hold an M.S. or Ph.D. in an appropriate area and must have a strong background in technical leadership positions in industry reflecting expertise in robotics, autonomous systems, and AI. Demonstrated interest in teaching is desirable. This position is a multi-year, limited-term and renewable, non-tenure track appointment with full benefits including substantive tuition remission for dependent children.

The MechE department has 40 tenure-track and 8 teaching faculty while the ECE Department has 54 primary faculty. The ENG College-wide M.S. degree program in Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) currently admits on the order of 20 students per year from a strong applicant pool that exceeds 300 students. The goal is to scale the RAS program to 50-100 students matriculating each year. The College of Engineering is currently ranked 35th in the nation by US News and World Report, and 16th among private universities.

Boston University is an AAU institution with a rich tradition dedicated to inclusion and social justice. We are proud that we were the first American university to award a Ph.D. to a woman and that Martin Luther King Jr. received his Ph.D. here. We are dedicated to increasing the participation of all talented students and are committed to the pursuit of engineering by underrepresented groups at BU and beyond.

Applicants should submit a brief letter of interest, statement of accomplishments and plans for their role as RASTIC Director, a current CV, and ask three references to submit a recommendation letter at the appropriate link below. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor

Boston University, Mechanical Engineering Department