Post-Doctoral Fellow in Acoustics AF7772

About the role

The School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Oklahoma State University invites applications for a part-time Post-Doctoral Fellow to join Prof. Yangfan Liu’s research group. The successful candidate will lead interdisciplinary research at the intersection of machine learning, physical and computational acoustics, vibration/noise control, and signal processing. This is a postdoctoral appointment intended for candidates seeking to contribute to and manage ongoing sponsored research projects and supervise students.

Responsibilities

• Research (50%)
  • Develop machine learning, deep learning, and physics-aware models for acoustics, vibration, NVH, audio/speech, and signal-processing applications.
  • Build surrogate models, inverse-design frameworks, and data-driven optimization methods for acoustic materials, computational acoustics, compressor/vehicle-cabin acoustics, or related vibroacoustic systems.
  • Design and perform experiments to validate developed methodologies and build proof-of-concept demos.
  • Prepare peer-reviewed publications in leading journals and conferences in acoustics, signal processing, machine learning, mechanical engineering, and related fields.
  • Develop reproducible code, analysis pipelines, and technical documentation to support research dissemination and technology transfer.
• Research Management (20%)
  • Manage day-to-day project tasks to meet sponsor requirements, research milestones, and publication timelines.
  • Coordinate research activities among faculty, students, and external collaborators; organize technical meetings and track deliverables.
  • Provide technical leadership on model development, data analysis, simulation/measurement workflows, and manuscript preparation.
• Proposal Development & Professional Service (20%)
  • Contribute to research proposals for federal agencies, industry sponsors, and university-industry collaborative programs.
  • Assist with grant management, sponsor communications, technical reporting, and partnership development.
  • Represent the research group at conferences, workshops, sponsor meetings, and professional events.
  • Participate in peer review, professional societies, and academic service activities as appropriate.
• Student Mentoring (10%)
  • Mentor graduate and undergraduate students in machine learning, acoustics, signal processing, simulation, and data analysis.
  • Guide students in research planning, coding practices, experiment/simulation design, data interpretation, technical writing, and presentations.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering, Acoustics, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Physics, or a closely related field.
• Strong background in acoustics, vibration/NVH, audio/speech processing, acoustic signal processing, computational acoustics, or related areas.
• Demonstrated expertise in machine learning or AI methods, such as deep learning, physics-informed or physics-aware learning, surrogate modeling, inverse design, generative models, optimization, or uncertainty-aware modeling.
• Strong record of scholarly research, including first-author or major-contribution publications in high-quality peer-reviewed journals and conferences.
• Experience with numerical simulation, experimental/measurement data, acoustic materials/structures, vehicle-cabin acoustics, HAV equipment noise, aerodynamic noise, or speech/audio systems is preferred.
• Proficiency in research programming and data analysis, preferably using Python and ML frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow; experience with MATLAB, COMSOL, FEM/CFD/acoustic tools, or signal-processing toolchains is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly in reports, manuscripts, presentations, and interdisciplinary team settings.
• Experience mentoring students, coordinating research tasks, leading collaborative projects, or managing team deliverables is strongly preferred.