Assistant or Associate Professor Position in Advanced Computing, Fall 2026

Description

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at the
University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), invites applications and
nominations for a tenure-track faculty position at the Assistant or
Associate Professor rank at the intersection of advanced computing
and civil and environmental engineering. Candidates should
demonstrate a strong record of scholarship, commensurate with
career stage, in one or more areas of civil and environmental
engineering or in a closely related field with clear relevance to
the built or natural environment.

Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, artificial
intelligence, machine learning, scientific computing, autonomous
and cyber-physical systems, physical AI, high-performance
computing, digital twins, and quantum computing. Particular
consideration will be given to candidates who develop, adapt,
integrate, or rigorously validate advanced computational methods to
enable fundamental discovery, predictive modeling, design,
decision-making, or autonomous operation in civil and environmental
engineering systems. The department seeks candidates whose work
extends beyond the routine application of established computational
tools and has the potential to produce transformative advances
across one or more CEE domains.

The successful candidate will be expected to establish or sustain
an externally funded research program and teach undergraduate and
graduate courses within their area of expertise. The candidate will
also contribute to the development and delivery of
interdisciplinary or crossdepartmental curricula in advanced
computing, mentor students, and foster collaborations that
integrate advanced computational capabilities across CEE research
and education.

About the Tickle College of Engineering:

The Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) is in the midst of an
unprecedented period of growth and success, including adding over
30 new faculty at all levels to the college over 4 years as part of
ambitious hiring campaigns led by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean
Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research
expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, intellectual
property development, and USNWR rank in the past three years. Key
partnerships with Oak Ridge National Lab ( ORNL) through the
University of Tennessee Oak Ridge Innovation Institute (UTORII) and
Consolidated Nuclear Security (CNS) that manages the Y-12 National
Security Complex have created an expanded opportunity space for
faculty and students in the region. 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 that houses UTK’s Fibers and
Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF), a National Prototype
Research Center (NSPC) as part of a partnership with CNS Y-12 under
construction, and new facilities for the Biomedical Engineering
department and a quantum foundry in planning stages.

TCE currently has 213 tenure/tenure track and over 80 non-tenure
track faculty in its nine academic departments and offers 11
undergraduate, 16 MS, and 15 PhD/DE degree programs. Affiliated
with TCE and located in Tullahoma, Tennessee, the UT Space
Institute is a hub of aerospace and defense research. The college
is also home to eight research centers and three interdisciplinary
institutes. With approximately 4, 8 00 undergraduate and 1,500
graduate students, the college sits 2 8 th among public
universities in the most recent U.S. News and World Report graduate
rankings. Faculty in the college have won 33 early career awards
(NSF, DOE, DARPA, AFOSR, AHA, and Sloan ) since 2016. In FY2 5, the
college had annual research expenditures of $113. 9 M.

Qualifications

All candidates must hold an earned doctorate in civil or
environmental engineering or closely related field by the
appointment start date. All candidates must have research and
teaching interests at the nexus of advanced computing and civil and
environmental engineering. All candidates must have strong
communication skills and the ability to work effectively in an
interdisciplinary environment. All candidates must be legally
authorized to work in the United States by the appointment start
date.

Candidates for Assistant Professor must have a record of scholarly
achievement and high quality publications and must demonstrate
potential to develop a nationally recognized, externally funded
research program.

Candidates for Associate Professor must have a strong record of
scholarly achievement and high-quality publications and must have
established a nationally recognized, externally funded research
program.

Application Instructions

Applicants should submit:

• An application letter addressing qualifications and

motivation,

• Statements of research and teaching interests
• A complete curriculum vitae
• Names of and contact information for five references

Questions about the position should be directed to Lee Han, Chair
of the Search Committee (voice: 865-974-7707; email lhan@utk.edu).
Applications will be reviewed beginning November 15 and will
continue until the position is filled.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for
employment and admission without regard to race, color, national
origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, marital status, sexual
orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability,
genetic information, veteran status, and parental status, or any
other characteristic protected by federal or state law. In
accordance with the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, the University of Tennessee affirmatively
states that it does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or
disability in its education programs and activities, and this
policy extends to employment by the university.

Requests for accommodation of a disability should be directed to
the ADA Coordinator at Equal Opportunity and Accessibility, 1840
Melrose Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37996-3560, by email to eoa@utk.edu , or by phone at 865-974-2498.
Inquiries and charges of violation of Title VI (race, color, and
national origin), Title IX (sex), Section 504 (disability), the ADA
(disability), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (age),
sexual orientation, or veteran status should be directed to the
Office of Investigation and Resolution, 216 Business Incubator
Building, E J. Chapman Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996-3560, by email to
investigations@utk.edu
, or by phone at 865-974-0717.