About the Opportunity

Critical Infrastructure & Cyber-AI Security

This theme focuses on protecting and strengthening the physical and digital systems that underpin modern society. This theme spans hardware and critical infrastructure resilience, leveraging AI, digital twins, and sensing to build secure and adaptive infrastructure; cyber-AI security, and safety, which addresses securing embodied AI/robotics, critical infrastructure systems, critical industrial control systems, security infrastructures and cryptographic techniques for AI systems; and advanced manufacturing for future semiconductor and energy materials, aligned with CHIPS-Act priorities.

Anchored in Boston, the theme builds on cross-college collaboration among COE (College of Engineering), Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Mills (Mills College at Northeastern), CSSH (College of Social Sciences and Humanities), CAMD (College of Arts, Media and Design), COS (College of Science), and Law (School of Law), together with Northeastern's interdisciplinary ecosystem. It builds on the Kostas Research Institute (KRI), CHEST (Center for Hardware and Embedded Systems Security and Trust), SENTRY (Soft Target Engineering to Neutralize the Threat Reality), DIBI (Defense Industrial Base Institute), and the Center for Advanced Materials for Resiliency (CAMR), connecting cryptography, AI, physical infrastructure resilience, cyber-AI security, and advanced manufacturing to safeguard the systems the nation depends on against natural disasters and both conventional and emerging (including quantum-era) threats.

About the opportunity: Advanced manufacturing for future semiconductor materials and energy storage systems

Northeastern University invites applications for a tenured/tenure-track faculty position at the Assistant, Associate or Full Professor level in the broad area of advanced manufacturing for future semiconductor materials and energy storage systems, aligned with CHIPS-Act priorities in semiconductors, battery and energy-storage research under critical infrastructure.

Appointments will be primarily or fully in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) within Northeastern University’s College of Engineering, with opportunities for joint cross-college appointments with the College of Science. The position will be based primarily on Northeastern University’s Boston campus, providing an exceptional environment for interdisciplinary research, education, and collaboration across engineering, science, industry, and government.

We are seeking outstanding faculty candidates with research interests and expertise in any of a set of broadly defined areas relevant to advanced manufacturing for future semiconductor materials and energy storage systems, which include but are not limited to:

• Advanced semiconductor materials processing
• Nanoscale and scalable manufacturing of semiconductor or energy materials
• Thermal interface materials for advanced packaging
• Heterogeneous integration of semiconductors
• Scalable synthesis of battery active materials
• Emerging solid-state battery materials
• Energy harvesting and conversion materials
• Polymers for electronic and energy system applications
• AI-driven discovery and manufacturing of energy storage materials
• Dry‑processing, solvent‑free electrode manufacturing
• In‑situ / operando manufacturing metrology, process‑monitoring, and quality control

Our tenure and promotion process values collaborative research and teamwork. Hires will be mentored for success, with mentoring teams and group guidance. In addition, a strong and effective faculty development strategy is part of the Northeastern institutional mission. The ADVANCE Office of Faculty Development office works in conjunction with the Office of Research Development (ORD), the Office of Belonging, the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR), and University Decision Support (UDS) to provide programs and trainings to further develop and support a thriving faculty.

About Northeastern:

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. Our world-renowned experiential approach empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create impact far beyond the confines of discipline, degree, and campus.

Our locations—in Arlington; Boston; Charlotte, North Carolina; London; Miami; New York City; Oakland; Portland, Maine; Seattle; Silicon Valley; Toronto; Vancouver; and the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant—are nodes in our growing global university system. Through this network, we expand opportunities for flexible, student-centered learning and collaborative, solutions-focused research.

Northeastern’s comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs— in a variety of on-campus and online formats—lead to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools. Among these, we offer more than 195 multi-discipline majors and degrees designed to prepare students for purposeful lives and careers.

About MIE and COE in Northeastern University: The Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) is Northeastern's largest department, with a faculty of more than 90 members, including 65 tenured and tenure-track faculty, whose work spans AI, biomechanics, energy systems, fluids, human-technology integration, manufacturing, materials, mechanics, network and service systems, and robotics. MIE sits within Northeastern's College of Engineering (COE), a leader in experiential education and interdisciplinary research focused on innovating for global impact, anchored by Northeastern's signature cooperative education program and R1 research rating. The college enrolls more than 10,000 students pursuing BS, MS, and PhD degrees and includes more than 450 faculty, and leads four university-wide research institutes while partnering in ten more. Faculty across MIE and COE collaborate on funded research spanning advanced manufacturing, energy systems, robotics, and infrastructure resilience. 

Responsibilities

Faculty members at Northeastern teach courses at the graduate and undergraduate level; mentor students and postdocs in their area of research; and participate in service to the department, university, and discipline. Candidates are expected to develop independent research programs that attract external funding and generate vigorous research programs cross-cutting the fields of engineering and/or science.

Requirements

A Ph.D., or foreign equivalent, in Mechanical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Chemical Engineering or a closely related field by the employment start date is required.  Academic rank at the Associate Professor or Full Professor level will be commensurate with experience and qualifications reflecting a record of demonstrated teaching and scholarly excellence. Applicants at the Associate level should have at least 4 years of academic or equivalent experience (e.g., industry, research) and at the Full Professor level at least 8 years of academic or equivalent experience (e.g., industry, research). Candidates may have opportunities for joint appointments and/or interdisciplinary collaboration within and across colleges. We encourage applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, including academia and industry.

A complete application includes a cover letter, curriculum vitae that includes a full list of publications; a statement of research interests and objectives; a teaching statement; and at least three names for reference letters. Please see the information below for detailed information on what documents to include and what we are looking for within each statement. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, as they arrive. The review is expected to start immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Statement Prompts:

Statement of Research Interests, Objectives, & Vision: Please describe the focus of your research, including the questions you have identified, any funding you have received to support the work, the results you have discovered, and the products of these efforts. Please also describe any research you have undertaken with students, with the external community, and/or with individuals from marginalized groups. Finally, please outline the research directions you foresee pursuing as a faculty member. 

Statement of Teaching Interests & Philosophy: Please summarize your past instructional and mentorship experiences, your pedagogical philosophy, your plans/goals for teaching (including existing and proposed courses), and your strategies for teaching and mentoring a diverse cohort of undergraduate and graduate students. 

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff.  Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see: Belonging at Northeastern.

Position Type

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.  

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Pay Range:

With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.