Assistant Associate Full Professor - College of Engineering - Civil and Environmental Engineering - Critical Infrastructure Resilience in the Coastal Environment - Boston

About the Opportunity

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. Our world-renowned experiential approach empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create impact far beyond the confines of discipline, degree, and campus.

Our locations—in Arlington; Boston; Charlotte, London; Miami; New York City; Oakland; Portland, Maine; Seattle; Silicon Valley; Toronto; Vancouver; and the Massachusetts communities of Burlington and Nahant—are nodes in our growing global university system. Through this network, we expand opportunities for flexible, student-centered learning and collaborative, solutions-focused research.

Northeastern’s comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs— in a variety of on-campus and online formats—leads to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools. Among these, we offer more than 195 multi-discipline majors and degrees designed to prepare students for purposeful lives and careers.

About CEE and COE at Northeastern University:  The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Northeastern University has a faculty of more than 40 members (several with joint appointments with other colleges) pursuing use-inspired research in structures, urban coastal systems, urban transportation and mobility, construction management, air quality, wind energy, water quality, environmental health, resilience, sustainability and climate change, life cycle assessment, green infrastructure, urban informatics, and robotics. CEE sits within Northeastern's  College of Engineering (COE) , a leader in experiential education and interdisciplinary research focused on innovating for global impact, anchored by Northeastern's signature cooperative education program and R1 research rating. The college enrolls more than 10,000 students pursuing BS, MS, and PhD degrees and includes more than 450 faculty. COE leads four university-wide research institutes while partnering in ten more and brings together researchers from a global network of campuses and partners.

About the Opportunity

Northeastern University seeks multiple faculty hires in the broad theme of Critical Infrastructure Resilience and Cyber-AI Security . This theme focuses on protecting and strengthening the physical and digital systems that underpin modern society. The theme spans (1) hardware and critical infrastructure resilience (HCIR), leveraging AI, digital twins, and sensing to build secure and adaptive infrastructure; (2) cyber-AI security and safety, which addresses securing embodied AI/robotics, critical infrastructure systems, critical industrial control systems, security infrastructures and cryptographic techniques for AI systems; and (3) advanced manufacturing for future semiconductor materials and energy storage systems, aligned with CHIPS Act priorities in battery and energy-storage research. Anchored in Boston, the theme builds on cross-college collaboration among COE (College of Engineering), Khoury College of Computer Sciences, Mills (Mills College at Northeastern), CSSH (College of Social Sciences and Humanities), CAMD (College of Arts, Media and Design), COS (College of Science), and Law (School of Law), together with Northeastern's interdisciplinary ecosystem. It builds on the Kostas Research Institute (KRI), CHEST (Center for Hardware and Embedded Systems Security and Trust), SENTRY (Soft Target Engineering to Neutralize the Threat Reality), DIBI (Defense Industrial Base Institute), and the Center for Advanced Materials for Resiliency (CAMR), connecting cryptography, AI, physical infrastructure resilience, cyber-AI security, and advanced manufacturing to safeguard the systems the nation depends on against natural disasters and both conventional and emerging (including quantum-era) threats.

As part of this strategic initiative, coordinated across the university under sub-theme #1 (HCIR), the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department seeks faculty candidates for tenured/tenure-track appointments at the assistant, associate, or full professor ranks. We seek candidates whose research leverages physics-informed AI, digital twins, and/or sensing to enable secure, adaptive, and resilient critical infrastructure in coastal environments. Candidates should apply and develop novel experimental and/or computational methods that advance Coastal System Engineering. Academic rank at the Associate Professor and Full Professor levels will be commensurate with experience and qualifications reflecting a record of demonstrated teaching and scholarly excellence.

Primary academic appointments will be in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) within Northeastern University’s College of Engineering, with opportunities for joint cross-college appointments with the  Khoury College of Computer Sciences, the College of Social Sciences and Humanities, or the College of Arts, Media and Design. The position will be based primarily on Northeastern University’s Boston campus.

Candidates with interest in joint appointments with other departments or colleges should indicate their intent in their application materials, including the cover letter. We seek applicants with expertise in coastal system engineering related to (1) AI-Powered Digital Twins for Continuous Coastal Infrastructure Risk and Resilience Assessment, (2) Autonomous and Robotic Sensing Networks for Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Early Detection of Coastal Infrastructure Failure, (3) AI-Enabled Modeling and Monitoring of Coastal Infrastructure Stability Under Extreme Loading, Scour, and Erosion ,  (4) Physics-AI Digital Twins for Compound Coastal Hazards, or (5) Self-Learning Digital Twins for Climate Adaptation and Critical Infrastructure Management.

Our tenure and promotion process values collaborative research and teamwork. Hires will be mentored for success, with mentoring teams and group guidance. In addition, a strong and effective faculty development strategy is part of the Northeastern institutional mission. The ADVANCE Office of Faculty Development office works in conjunction with the Office of Research Development (ORD), the Office of Belonging, the Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR), and University Decision Support (UDS) to provide programs and training to further develop and support a thriving faculty.

We encourage applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, including academia, government, and industry.

Candidates should be committed to fostering diverse and inclusive environments as well as promoting experiential learning, which are central to Northeastern University education.

Responsibilities

Tenured/tenure-track faculty in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering will be responsible for: teaching courses at the graduate and undergraduate level; developing vigorous research programs that attract external funding; advising, mentoring, and overseeing students and post-doctoral associates in their area of research; and participating in service to the department, college, university, and discipline. Candidates are encouraged to collaborate with other departments and colleges across the university on interdisciplinary research. Qualified candidates must be prepared to work with global student populations.

Qualifications

This tenured/tenure-track faculty position requires a Ph.D., or foreign equivalent, in civil engineering, coastal and ocean engineering, or a related field by the employment start date.

Applicants at the Associate level should have at least 4 years of academic or equivalent experience (e.g., industry, research) and at the Full Professor level at least 8 years or equivalent experience (e.g., industry, research).

How to apply: Interested candidates should apply using the Northeastern University website. Applications must include the following:

1. Cover letter

2. Full curriculum vita