The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech seeks applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in computer engineering with emphasis in secure and dependable software, especially for embedded systems, mobile systems, and/or critical applications.
Applicants should have expertise in one or more of the following areas: formal models for robust software development including program analysis, trusted software synthesis, and software verification/validation; compile-time software instrumentation, debugging, and analysis; and/or hardware-enabled secure system and software development such as hardware roots of trust and trusted virtualization. This position is based at Virginia Tech's main Blacksburg, Virginia campus.
A goal of this position is to leverage existing strengths within the College of Engineering to enable the department to more fully respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by cybersecurity threats facing federal and state governments, private industry, and individuals in the community at large. The successful candidate will be expected to develop a vigorous research program in his or her areas of expertise and to work with existing Virginia Tech ECE faculty with expertise covering embedded systems and software, hardware security, reconfigurable computing and security, network security, communication security, design automation, formal methods, and system building.
The successful candidate will be expected to develop and maintain a nationally-recognized funded research program, teach undergraduate and graduate courses, and participate in department, college, and/or university service and outreach activities. Additionally, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work as part of the Hume Center for National Security and Technology at Virginia Tech, which is active in cybersecurity research supporting federal defense and intelligence sponsors. More broadly, the successful candidate should contribute to Virginia Tech's growing strength and leadership in cybersecurity research, education, and outreach. For more information on cybersecurity education and research at Virginia Tech, see www.cyber.vt.edu.
Required Qualifications
- An earned Ph.D. in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, or a related field earned prior to employment
- Evidence of potential for excellence in research, scholarship, and teaching in secure and dependable software, with emphasis on embedded systems, mobile systems, and/or critical applications
- Ability to articulate a coherent agenda of research and scholarship and to identify potential funding sources to support research
- Interest or experience in mentoring undergraduate and graduate students in research
- Effective communication skills
Preferred Qualifications
- Ability and willingness to work collaboratively with faculty from a variety of disciplines
- Interest or experience working effectively with a diverse student population
- Prior experience in the role of PI or Co-PI on funded research projects
- Eligible for, and able to obtain and maintain, a security clearance at the TS/SCI level as required to perform potential duties
- Willingness and ability to work in a technology-based research and education environment, such as is characterized by use of learning technologies, distance learning, online courses, video-conferencing, and network and grid-based collaborative research
The Hume Center
The vision of the Hume Center for National Security and Technology is to be the nation's leader in developing the elite science and technology workforce for the intelligence community through sustainable and flexible research programs that engage faculty and students to solve the needs of national security and the intelligence community. Key research focus areas are in wireless, space, cybersecurity, and big data, where the Hume Center provides the infrastructure necessary to conduct classified research in an academic environment.
The Hume Center's Intelligence Community (IC) Scholars program promotes an ecosystem for students in areas related to national security. The program provides scholarships and fellowships for students, hosts campus speakers and events, organizes a summer study abroad program, and operates a clearing-house for summer internships with national security agencies and companies. The IC Scholars program is jointly funded by the Hume Endowment and the IC Center for Academic Excellence program. Further information on the Hume Center can be found at www.hume.ictas.vt.edu.
The ECE Department
The ECE Department offers B.S., M.S., M.Eng., and Ph.D. degree programs in both Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering with enrollment of about 600 undergraduate students and 500 graduate students. In addition to the main Blacksburg campus, an active research program and a full- and part-time graduate program are located in the National Capital Region (Washington, DC area), with 10 full-time ECE faculty who interact closely with faculty in Blacksburg.
In the most recent US News & World Report rankings, our electrical engineering graduate program is tied for 21st and our computer engineering graduate program is tied for 24th and our electrical engineering undergraduate program is tied for 14th. The department's external research expenditures were ranked 13th among ECE and similar departments based on data from the most recent (2011) from the ASEE's profiles of colleges of engineering.
The ECE Department has 73 tenured or tenure-track faculty members and external research expenditures exceeding $29 million annually. The department has programs that are among the nation's largest and strongest in power electronics, power systems, wireless communications and networking, space science and engineering, remote sensing, fiber optics and photonics, and computational biology. The department has additional emerging areas of strength in autonomous systems, biomedical applications, cybersecurity, embedded systems, and semiconductors. The department is the beneficiary of the Bradley Endowment which provides scholarships, fellowships, professorships, and other support for the department. For more information about the ECE Department and the College of Engineering, please visit www.ece.vt.edu and www.eng.vt.edu.
The University
Through a combination of its three missions of discovery, learning, and engagement, Virginia Tech continually strives to accomplish the charge of its motto Ut Prosim (That I May Serve). Virginia Tech is the Commonwealth's senior land-grant institution. Highly selective in admissions, the University enrolls approximately 23,700 undergraduate and 7,300 graduate and professional students, and has more than 3,100 faculty members and researchers. The university offers 65 bachelor's degree programs through its seven undergraduate academic colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Architecture and Urban Studies, Engineering, Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, Natural Resources and Environment, Pamplin College of Business, and Science. At the graduate level, the university offers 150 master's and doctoral degree programs through the Graduate School and a professional degree from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. Through a public-private partnership, Virginia Tech and the Carilion Clinic have created the Virginia-Tech Carilion School of Medicine and the Virginia Tech-Carilion Research Institute. For more information about the university, please visit www.vt.edu.
The Community
Virginia Tech is located in Blacksburg in the scenic mountains of southwestern Virginia, about 40 miles west of Roanoke. Bloomberg Businessweek recently ranked Blacksburg as the "Best Place in the U.S. to Raise Kids." Livability.com has given Blacksburg the title of one of the ten best college towns for 2012. Blacksburg also has a growing and active community of young professionals who work at Virginia Tech, small companies in the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, and elsewhere in the area. For more information about the Town of Blacksburg, please visit www.blacksburg.va.us.
The Application Process
Qualified applicants must submit a letter of application, a curriculum vita, research statement, teaching statement, and a list of at least three references electronically to jobs.vt.edu to posting number 0122883. Please follow carefully the instructions found on the employment website regarding the application submission process. Unfortunately, we are unable to accept paper applications. Paper applications or electronic applications sent via e-mail cannot be considered. Review of applications will begin December 1, 2012 and will continue until the position is filled with an appropriate candidate. The anticipated start date is August 10, 2013.
Applications from women and other underrepresented populations in engineering are especially encouraged. Virginia Tech has a program designed to support the retention and advancement of female faculty; see www.advance.vt.edu. Individuals with disabilities desiring accommodation in the application process should notify K. Atkins, ECE Dept, (540) 231-4136 or TDD/PC 1-800-828-1120 or Voice 1-800-828-1140.
Virginia Tech is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.