Engineering design for product development

The area of Engineering Design at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago is seeking applicants for a full-time faculty position in Engineering Design for Product Development. This is a joint position shared by the School of Engineering and the School of Design at UC. Although the call is primarily for candidates at the assistant professor level, exceptional applications at the associate professor level are also welcome.

Duties

As for any academic position, the successful applicant’s duties will include to develop independent research supported by external funding, to teach in the field at the undergraduate and graduate level, to do extension and outreach activities, and to transfer knowledge to industry in patents, or other similar mechanisms. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of this area, it also expected to develop a strong relationship with different industries responsible for the production of any goods and services, and some experience in developing this interaction is welcome though not required.

Product design is a very interdisciplinary activity that aims at the synthesis of technology with human needs and values to create innovative products, services, and experience designs; thus it involves many different functions. For this reason, we expect applicants to also hold special personal attributes to carry this transdisciplinary creation process, showing clear leadership, innovative thinking, and team work.

Requirements

Applicants must have disciplinary training in either of the engineering areas such as: mechanical, electrical, computer, civil, material science, systems, and manufacturing operations. He/she must hold (or be currently pursuing studies towards) a Ph.D. preferably in engineering, the sciences, or design. Regardless of his/her academic background, candidates must demonstrate knowledge in the fields of design, manufacturing, and market research. During the first year teaching may be in English, but after that the successful applicant should be able to teach also in Spanish.

Applicants must demonstrate potential for excellence and a strong vocation for all aspects of academic life, be highly motivated to continuously improve their teaching skills, have a genuine interest in getting involved with our graduate programs (specially the doctoral program) and be able to develop and maintain an active research agenda. The successful candidate will also be expected to create new undergraduate and graduate courses and teach traditional courses in related areas.

Application instructions

Candidates should submit the following documents to vacantes-academicas@ing.puc.cl (in the email subject line, please put: “Product Design”; see note A) by December 15th, 2016 (late applications may be considered until the position is filled).

A statement of purpose (in Spanish or English) indicating why you should be considered for the vacancy and your plans in the areas of research and teaching. Be as specific as possible, e.g., giving examples of how you aim to transfer your engineering knowledge to undergraduate and graduate students, and detailing potential collaboration networks with other researchers you may have developed or intend to develop in the future.
An up-to-date curriculum vitae (in Spanish or English, note B).
Copies of your three representative publications.
Teaching portfolio if available (highly recommended).

In addition, candidates should arrange for three letters of recommendation to be emailed directly by the signatories to vacantes-academicas@ing.puc.cl.

Note A:
You will get an response from this email address confirming that your documents have been received.

Note B:
The CV must be organized as follows:i. Personal background: name, address, contact telephone (with country and city codes), email address, web page (if any).ii. Educational experience (university or institution, courses taught, years).iii. Professional experience (employer, duties, years).

iv. Education: list of all degrees or professional titles obtained indicating granting institutions and dates, beginning with your secondary school diploma. If you are currently enrolled in a doctoral program, indicate when you expect to obtain the degree.

v. Research:

a. List of ISI journal publications (see note C).

b. List of other publications such as reports, books or book chapters, conferences attended, research projects participated in, patents, etc.

vi. Other: prizes and awards, computer skills, languages, any other background information that you consider relevant.

Note C:
Please avoid padding the list with other publications, such as non ISI journals, conference presentations and the like. To check whether a journal is included in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) master list, visit the following web site: http://www.isinet.com/cgi-bin/jrnlst/jloptions.cgi?PC=master.

Once the complete set of application materials has been received, the applicant will be contacted within two months and informed whether or not his/her application has been accepted for further consideration. If this initial screening is successful, the candidate will be asked to give a lecture on his/her current research topics and attend interviews with faculty members of the area of Engineering Design and the School of Design, the dean of the School of Engineering, the dean of the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Urban Studies, and the selection committee.

Further information

Additional information may be obtained by emailing to di-lab@ing.puc.cl.