Senior Research Associate

Description:

About us

The Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering is home to about 60 professors leading research on a very broad range of topics. On the Industrial Engineering side, research areas include Operations Research, Information Engineering, Human Factors, and Applied Machine Learning, all of which seek to improve the systems we as humans rely on to navigate our world.  On the Mechanical Engineering side, research areas include Robotics, Mechanics & Design, Materials, and Thermofluids, topics that are applied to applications including manufacturing, energy production, and bioengineering.

We are also home to about 2,000 very talented students: about 1,300 undergraduates are enrolled in the Industrial Engineering and in the Mechanical Engineering BASc programs. We have about 350 Master of Engineering (MEng) students, a professional program for students taking courses with us for a year or two. And we have about 350 MASc and PhD students, who work individually on research projects with a particular professor.

Description

The Bazylak group in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) is looking to fill a Senior Research Associate position. The group carries out research in the areas of fuel cells, water electrolysis, carbon dioxide electrolysis, and fundamental transport in porous media.

The Senior Research Associate will work directly under the supervision of Prof. Aimy Bazylak of the MIE Department on projects related to clean electrochemical energy conversion and fundamental transport in porous media.

The duties will include:

• developing and executing the research and commercialization vision with Prof. Bazylak to achieve publication and commercialization goals and knowledge dissemination;
• oversee the operation of a dynamic R&D group through tracking and monitoring research activities, maintaining project records for multiple research projects, and coordinating day-to-day project activities
• supervise students, postdoctoral fellows, and coordinate their research activities within research streams
• writing grant and funding applications and patent applications including verifying the accuracy and completeness of financial elements in grant submissions, and drafting commercialization plans
• liaising and developing communication plans with various stakeholders to foster and maintain research collaborations
• preparing technical reports and presentations for partners and funders

• conducting systematic literature reviews, narrative crafting, editing and proofreading manuscripts, and analyzing research results

• managing revision and resubmission process, compiling and managing a list of scientific reviewers and academic journal editors, and ensuring materials that conform to specific editorial styles and accommodate target audiences
• designing visual elements, editing figures, and coordinating the preparation and distribution of promotional materials
• drafting reports related to publications such as editorial and tracking research impact including submission counts, year-over-year analyses, acceptance rates, lag time, and citation counts
• editing and coaching presentations for lab personnel, and delivering presentations at conferences
• laboratory management, overseeing the operation and maintenance and safety of all equipment and spaces, purchases, and supplies management
• The research associate is expected to publish both at conferences and in journals.

Minimum Qualifications

Education

• Ph.D in engineering, or in a relevant science.   Experience in electrochemical energy conversion, including fuel cells and electrolyzers is mandatory.

Experience

• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in an academic setting, publishing academic manuscripts and knowledge of scientific journal guidelines.
• Experience in the review of scientific articles submitted to well-known academic journals.
• Experience drafting and developing grants, and other applications for research funding.
• Excellence in project management and ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously.
• Experience with supervising and managing teams.

Skills

• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
• Able to work within a team structure and effectively communicate with colleagues at all levels.
• Ability to create documents and reports for a wide variety of audiences.
• Strong technical and analytical skills with an understanding of engineering concepts and methodologies.
• Ability to identify opportunities for research and collaboration with industrial and academic partners.
• Demonstrated success in writing and preparing manuscripts, presentations, reports, briefs, and scientific abstracts and manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and the promotion of a respectful and collegial learning and work environment.
• Demonstrated laboratory proficiency.

Other

• Electrochemical cell testing, including assembly, are required.
• Electrochemical cell performance characterization is required.
• Mechanical engineering designs skills and CAD drawing are assets.

• Well-developed interpersonal, communication and analytical skills.
• Ability to exercise tact and judgement in dealing with industrial, academic and other collaborative partners.
• Demonstrated initiative and technical ability.
• Detail-oriented.
• Ability to work independently, with minimal supervision.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion and the promotion of a respectful and collegial learning and work environment.

Closing Date: 09/25/2026,11:59PM ET
Employee Group: Research Associate 
Personnel Subarea: Research Assoc
Appointment Type : Grant - Continuing 
Schedule: Full-Time
Pay Scale Group & Hiring Zone:  R02 -- Sr. Research Associates $62,617 - $109,373 - $127,112 (open)
Job Category: Engineering / Technical