JOB DESCRIPTION

As a UW employee, you have a unique opportunity to change lives on our campuses, in our state and around the world. UW employees offer their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills, and dedication to build stronger minds and a healthier world.
UW faculty and staff also enjoy outstanding benefits, professional growth opportunities and unique resources in an environment noted for diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits, and natural beauty.
At the UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, we cultivate innovation and inspire through high-impact research. We educate and develop tomorrow’s leaders to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. UW ECE’s position as a top-ranked electrical and computer engineering department provides our faculty and student body with a vibrant learning culture. Students receive a robust education through a strong technical foundation, group projects and hands-on research opportunities. Our faculty work in dynamic research areas collaborating with academia, industry and government institutions. UW ECE is a leader in cutting-edge science and technology while advancing socially-responsible innovation. Our innovation ecosystem is critical in promoting an entrepreneurial mindset in our teaching, and it is strengthened through diverse partnerships that address complex global challenges in health, energy, technology and the environment. Learn more at www.ece.uw.edu .
The Quantum Technologies Teaching and Testbed (QT3) lab is a unique combined teaching and user facility which provides state-of-the-art optical characterization tools for quantum technologies. The mission of the lab is to provide hands-on access to quantum technology hardware to accelerate both research and training in this growing field. The QT3 lab’s 800 square-foot facility is located at the heart of campus in the Electrical Engineering Building. QT3 tools and laboratory set-ups can be utilized for teaching labs, capstone projects and research.
The QT3 User Facility Lab Manager (payroll title: Research Scientist/Engineer 2) will support the equipment and operation of equipment in the QT3 lab. The QT3 facility provides expertise and access to cryogenic, optical, and electronic instrumentation for the measurement and analysis of quantum materials and devices.
This is a technical role that will require the individual to be comfortable operating, maintaining, developing and debugging scientific instrumentation including cryogenic instrumentation, designing and implementing spectroscopic and microscopic characterization experiments, and developing instrument control software.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Physics, Materials Science, Chemistry, or related field and
• Two years of relevant hands-on experience with optical systems and cryogenic measurement platforms
  Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot experimental hardware and support a diverse set of users
• Proficiency in python (for equipment automation)
• Strong organizational and communication skills

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience mentoring students or junior researchers
• Interest in supporting both research and teaching missions
• Experience in single quantum emitter optical microscopy
• Demonstrated skills in experimental tool development
• Lab teaching experience at the undergraduate level
• Mentoring experience of independent research projects at the undergraduate level

Research Scientific Equipment Operation and Development

• Manage projects of moderate size and scope; makes substantial contributions to determining feasibility of goals and objectives.
• Perform tasks of a larger scope and often leads specific tasks within the project scope.
• Operate, maintain, and support shared experimental platforms including optical systems and cryogenic measurement setups.
• Lead technical onboarding and develop safety/training programs for new users and implements new systems/approaches for moderately difficult tasks or projects.
• Identify problems and related technical issues leading to long-term, generic solutions; identifies technical approach for solving problems and meeting grantor/user needs.
• Manage and mentor a team of undergraduate student workers as necessary to achieve specific technical goals. Monitor work to ensure that correct procedures are followed, providing direction to assure completion of technical engineering tasks and projects.
• Oversee day-to-day facility usage and scheduling; troubleshoot and resolve technical issues.
• Sought out for contributions to reports and publications; author/co-author on papers, proposals, presentations and reports; gives invited papers.
• Recognized for technical contributions by external peer network.
• Maintain external research relationships to identify and develop new funding sources; makes significant contributions to technical proposal preparation and/or presentations.
• Contribute to positive co-worker/user/investigator relationships through efficient interaction on current grants/projects.

Instructional Equipment Engineering

• Contribute to the maintenance and development of the QT3 instructional laboratory used for hands-on undergraduate education in quantum technologies.
• Interact in a collaborative manner with faculty and staff to accomplish instructional goals; provide ideas to improve efficiency at the group level.
• Co-develop, upgrade and maintain teaching lab documentation.
• Interface with teaching faculty utilizing the QT3 for laboratory courses.

Administrative Oversight –

• Collaborate with fiscal specialists to track facility usage, administer recharge rates, and generate invoices
• Partner with the faculty director in preparing technical sections of equipment proposals and facility-related grants and contribute to procurement of new funding through technical proposal preparation and/or presentations.
• Manage and maintain facility website to ensure accurate and up-to-date representation of lab activities for internal and external audiences.

Perform other duties as assigned.
Supervisory responsibility: 3-5 undergraduate research assistants, student assistant graduates, etc.