Assistant or Associate Teaching Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

About the Role

The Teaching Professor is a non-tenure track faculty appointment that recognizes excellence in instruction and educational leadership. The successful candidate will have prior experience as a teaching professor, and is expected to provide exceptional instruction, develop innovative educational programs, and foster hands-on learning experiences for students in the Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Aerospace Engineering (AE) degree programs. This position can be full or part-time, between 33.33 - 100%.

Responsibilities

• Provide instruction in foundational and design-oriented courses such as Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics of Materials, Design of Machine Elements, and Senior Capstone Design, with opportunities to teach elective courses that would serve both undergraduate and graduate students in the ME and AE programs.
• Develop and incorporate modern instructional methods, assessment strategies, and educational technologies to enhance student learning and engagement.
• Serve as faculty advisor and mentor for select student competition teams, which could involve vehicles, rockets, robotics or RC, including providing technical and professional mentorship, supporting project planning and execution, promoting safe laboratory and fabrication practices, and helping student teams effectively utilize available resources.
• Serve as a primary departmental liaison for competition and strengthen the integration of co-curricular experiences with the academic curriculum.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of the undergraduate curriculum through regular interaction with students, assessment of learning outcomes, and collaboration with faculty and educational innovation programs.
• Advise students on academic progress and professional development, evaluating course effectiveness through assessment and accreditation processes, and helping develop and implement innovative instructional approaches that strengthen the student educational experience.
• Participate in departmental, college, and professional activities related to engineering education, laboratory development, experiential learning, and instructional innovation.
• Contribute ideas that enhance engineering pedagogy while engaging with the broader engineering education community to share best practices and increase the visibility of UW-Madison's engineering programs.
• Oversee the management and continuous improvement of instructional laboratory facilities that support the ME and AE curricula, including laboratory operations, safety protocols, instructional equipment, software, and fabrication resources to ensure that facilities remain safe, accessible, and aligned with evolving curricular needs.
• Identify opportunities for equipment modernization, develop new laboratory capabilities, and incorporate emerging technologies into instructional activities.
• Supervise, mentor, and evaluate teaching assistants, including coordinating instructional activities, providing feedback on teaching performance, supporting grading and student learning, and developing instructional resources that promote consistent, high-quality undergraduate education.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Develops and designs curriculum and instructional material relevant to a course of instruction
• Collaborates with department faculty and staff to develop teaching strategies relevant to the discipline
• May supervise student employees involved in development or delivery of instruction
• Advises students on academic and career direction within a specific field of study
• Facilitates classroom, online and/or laboratory instruction, including assessment of student performance
• Contributes to the strategic development of curriculum and academic content through various mediums to ensure the integrity of the educational mission of the work unit
• Contributes to the development of teaching and learning scholarly work including publications and presentations
• Oversee, maintain, and upgrade instructional laboratory spaces, equipment and software used by students and competition teams in the ME Department
• Mentor national design competition teams

Qualifications

Required:

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering or a closely related field
• Experience as a teaching professor providing instruction in mechanics courses, design of machine elements, senior capstone design or closely related courses
• Experience in developing innovative teaching methods, pedagogy and improvements of educational programs and/or engaging students in experiential learning

Preferred:

• Experience in vehicle engineering, including one or more of the following areas: propulsion systems, vehicle dynamics, electric vehicle technologies, mobility systems, or related fields
• Experience in activities that advance boundaries of engineering education and are disseminated in conference and/or peer reviewed papers related to engineering education
• Experience engaging with industry and other external collaborators in an educational context

Compensation

The minimum starting rate for this position is $100,000, but is negotiable based on experience and qualifications of the finalist.

Additional Information

Applicants for this position will be considered for the titles Teaching Assistant Professor and Teaching Associate Professor titles. Appointment at the Assistant or Associate level will depend on accomplishments and experience including but not limited to: a strong record of teaching, classroom innovation, the design and execution of administrative functions associated with academic instruction and the development of pedagogy/andragogy or assessment tools and resources to support quality student learning.

The successful applicant will be responsible for ensuring eligibility for employment in the United States on or before the effective date of the appointment. University sponsorship is not available for this position.

Department: College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Contact Information

Alissa Girdler
1513 University Ave
Madison, WI 53706
agirdler@wisc.edu