RESEARCH SCIENTIST/ENGINEER SENIOR

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 building 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.

The Center for Industrial and Medical Ultrasound team at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington is hiring – see yourself at APL!

The Applied Physics Laboratory is a research unit at the University of Washington. Our research expertise is in ocean physics and engineering, ocean and medical acoustics, polar science, environmental remote sensing, and signal processing. We conduct research and development that is sponsored by a variety of federal and state agencies and take great pride in our long-standing status as a US Navy-designated University Affiliated Research Center (UARC). Our work takes place not only on the University of Washington campus and medical centers, but in field locations around the world – at sea, in the air, and on polar ice caps. We apply rigorous scientific inquiry and engineering excellence in pursuit of solutions to important problems for the good of our region, nation, and world.

Diversity is a core value at the University of Washington and the Applied Physics Laboratory shares this commitment. We are focused on building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable research environment for all students, staff, and collaborators. We believe every member of our team enriches our community by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design, and deliver solutions.

The Research Scientist/Engineer Senior will be independently responsible for study design and planning, execution of the research activities and analysis, fundraising, and dissemination of results and data to the scientific community and the general public. Projects are primarily aimed at experimental studies to develop preclinical and prototype clinical platforms to perform non-invasive mechanical tissue ablation under ultrasound imaging guidance. Projects involve the design of custom pulsing sequences for both ultrasound therapy and imaging, and integration of the corresponding hardware and software.  In addition, the incumbent will be working on robotically assisted navigation for treatment planning, execution, and outcome evaluation.

Major Duties and Responsibilities include:

Research Planning:
•   Plans and performs medical ultrasound research projects.
•   Conceives and develops technical strategy, and plans research to answer complex scientific questions, including the development of new technologies.
•   Develops collaborative and synergistic research relationships and coordinated research plans with peer scientists within APL, elsewhere at the UW, and at other institutions in the US and abroad.
•   Assesses the feasibility of proposed methods and tests.

Research Activities:
•   Prepares and executes acoustic experiments, including instrument development and calibration, equipment and supplies purchasing and shipping, and coordination with research team members.
•   Plans and performs in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo studies, and keeps data records associated with FDA regulatory compliance.
•   Develops and executes preliminary studies to obtain data for external proposals.
•   Monitors engineering and science data quality and content, and makes real-time decisions on adaptation of research activities in response to changing conditions and findings.
•   Conducts and/or manages data quality control, analysis, and synthesis in the context of past results and scientific literature on theoretical, numerical, and experimental investigations to arrive at scientific conclusions.
•   Forms collaborations with interdepartmental and external scientists, engineers, and clinicians to produce impactful research proposals and projects.
•   Share results with the scientific community through conference presentations and articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Fundraising:
•   Pursues research funding opportunities through typical channels (NIH, NSF, NASA, DoD) and any additional emergent relationships with additional sponsors.
•   Writes and submits single- and multi-investigator proposals, including the articulation of the scientific question and methods used to explore its answer, and the development of a detailed, comprehensive research project plan and budget.
•   Maintains excellent relationships with external and internal research partners and funders.

Personnel Management/Education/Mentoring:
•   Supervises junior staff.
•   Serves as an advisor and mentor to graduate students and postdocs.

Project Management:
•   Management of grant spending (purchases, salaries, overhead).
•   Prepares reports to sponsors over the course of the project as well as at the close of each project.

Requirements:
Ph.D. in Engineering, Physics, or related field and 7 years of experience.
• Ability to perform ex vivo and in vivo studies.
• Expert in beam aberration correction techniques.
• Experience in ultrasound imaging.
• Fabrication of integrated ultrasound imaging and therapy devices.
• High proficiency with Verasonics Acquisition Data System.
• Experienced in the use of ultrasound and acoustic tools including hydrophones, transducers, function generators, amplifiers, oscilloscopes, and other related equipment.
• Knowledge of advanced acoustic measurement techniques.
• Developing numerical models using Matlab or Python.
• Knowledge of Finite Element Packages COMSOL.
• Experience in fabricating tissue phantom.
• Knowledgeable in signal and image processing.
• Experience in robotics and mechatronics.
• Expert in Using AutoCAD packages.
• Knowledge of material characterization techniques.
• Experience in prototyping and fabrication.
• Exceptional communication, writing, and presentation skills.

Must be developing recognition as a national or international authority; significantly advances the body of knowledge in the discipline.

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

Desired:
• Development of patent applications.
• Initiative to actively participate in professional work functions to disseminate research and establish collaborations externally and internally.

As an individual researcher, conceive, plan, and conduct research in problem areas of considerable scope and complexity.  The problems must be approached through a series of complete and conceptually related studies, are difficult to define, require conventional or novel approaches, and require sophisticated research techniques.  Ability to coordinate with national and international collaborators.

Application Process:The application process may include completion of a variety of online assessments to obtain additional information that will be used in the evaluation process. These assessments may include Work Authorization, Cover Letter and/or others. Any assessments that you need to complete will appear on your screen as soon as you select “Apply to this position”. Once you begin an assessment, it must be completed at that time; if you do not complete the assessment, you will be prompted to do so the next time you access your “My Jobs” page. If you select to take it later, it will appear on your "My Jobs" page to take when you are ready. Please note that your application will not be reviewed, and you will not be considered for this position until all required assessments have been completed.