Assistant Professor for Science Informed Artificial Intelligence, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering for Fall 2025

Description

The Science Informed Artificial Intelligence (ScAI) cluster at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville seeks exceptional candidates to fill one tenure-track faculty position at the rank of Assistant Professor, primarily in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering (MABE), starting August 1, 2025. There will also be a unique opportunity for a joint appointment at the Mathematics department. Review of applications will begin on Monday 12/2/2024 and continue until the position is filled.   

UT is searching for additional faculty to strengthen the university’s position as a global leader in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; this position is among them. Recruitment into the ScAI cluster creates opportunities to build bold agendas that advance big ideas. The successful candidate will join a team of approximately 10 established and successful faculty with shared and complementary research interests in Scientific Machine Learning within Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and a strong desire to grow the scholarly and educational impact of their work. For early career faculty, the cluster also offers a unique framework for professional development and mentorship within a rich transdisciplinary environment. 

The ideal candidate for this position has a collaborative mindset and prioritizes working with colleagues to realize shared research and educational achievements, including large-scale proposals, joint publications, and new transdisciplinary curricular programming. As Tennessee’s flagship land-grant institution, UT is particularly interested in recruiting candidates who are deeply connected to the organizations and communities in which their work will have translational impact, as well as those who will contribute to a climate that values diversity and inclusion. 

The ScAI cluster is part of the “It takes a Volunteer” cluster hiring initiative at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (https://provost.utk.edu/it-takes-a-volunteer-2023-2025-cluster-hiring-initiative/). The ScAI will be a cluster team of excellence in the science, mathematics, and optimization of AI for advancing scientific and engineering applications and offer a direct impact on additive manufacturing and hypersonic defense systems. As part of this institutional priority initiative, new hires will join a dynamic core group of scientific collaborators with complementary experience and a shared interest in building a national reputation for excellence and innovation in ScAI. In addition, clusters are expected to work together to grow the University’s reputation in ScAI through shared grant proposals, publications, and innovative new curricular programming.   

The new hire will also support and contribute to the AI TENNessee (Transdisciplinary AI Education and iNNovation) Initiative. The AI TENNessee Initiative is a new research and education initiative focused on the State of Tennessee’s unique AI strengths and opportunities. Led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, this initiative is engaging with academic, industry, and community partners across Tennessee to leverage the benefits of AI across all disciplines and economic sectors in areas such as AI for science, smart manufacturing, climate-smart agriculture and forestry, precision health and environment, and future mobility. Our goal is to improve lives through AI research and education. The mission of the AI TENNessee initiative is to: 1) advance cutting-edge fundamental and transdisciplinary AI research and creative activity across all disciplines to address important challenges; 2) expand the number of Tennessee students developing skills and core competencies in AI across many disciplines to prepare them for AI-enabled jobs of today and the future; and 3) partner with industry and institutions statewide to  position Tennessee as a national and global leader in the data-intensive knowledge economy.  

 About the College

The Tickle College of Engineering is in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth and success including adding over 30 new faculty as part of ambitious cluster hiring campaigns led by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, diversity, intellectual property development, and USNWR rank in the past three years. New facilities include the state-of-the art Zeanah Engineering Complex, the University of Tennessee Manufacturing and Design Enterprise (TN-MADE) facility, and the Innovation South building now under construction that will house UTK’s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF). TCE currently has 185 Tenure/Tenure Track and 67 Non-Tenure Track faculty in its seven academic departments and offers 12 undergraduate, 16 MS, and 15 PhD d