Job Description

Full job description

Position Location

Fort Collins, CO

Work Location

Position is fully in-office/in-person

Research Professional Position

No

Posting Number

202401946AP

Position Type

Admin Professional/ Research Professional

Classification Title

Management I

Number of Vacancies

Work Hours/Week

40

Proposed Annual Salary Range

$95,000-$100,000

Employee Benefits

Colorado State University is not just a workplace; it’s a thriving community that’s transforming lives and improving the human condition through world-class teaching, research, and service. With a robust benefits package, collaborative atmosphere, commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion , and focus on work-life balance, CSU is where you can thrive, grow, and make a lasting impact.

• Review our detailed benefits information here.
• Explore the additional perks of working at CSU here .
• For the total value of CSU benefits in addition to wages, use our compensation calculator .

Desired Start Date

12/16/2024

Position End Date (if temporary)

To ensure full consideration, applications must be received by 11:59pm (MT) on

11/24/2024

Description of Work Unit

As one of the nation’s top public research universities, Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins, Colorado, is a land-grant institution, with enrollment of more than 34,000 students. CSU offers 76 undergraduate degree programs, 114 graduate degree programs, 21 professional master’s degree programs, and a Professional Veterinary Medicine program. CSU’s world-class research and scholarship attract more than $400 million in research funding annually, putting the university among top federally funded public universities without a medical school.


Fort Collins is an attractive community of approximately 170,000 located along the Colorado Front Range at the base of the Rocky Mountains, 65 miles north of Denver. The city is routinely recognized as one of the most desirable places to live in the United States. It consistently ranks high on quality-of-life measures by numerous publications; see for the complete list. The Front Range has developed into a high-tech hub with companies such as Woodward, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, IBM, Intel, Keysight Technologies, Broadcomm, AMD, Xilinx, Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman located in or near Fort Collins. The city offers a pleasant climate, excellent schools, and abundant cultural and recreational opportunities nearby. For more information on Fort Collins, check out the City’s website: .


The Department of Mechanical Engineering (MECH) at CSU offers a curriculum that integrates exceptional classroom learning and in-depth engineering practice for an unparalleled educational experience. Made up of 46 faculty members, 13 staff members, 1,200 undergraduate students, and 150 graduate students, ME is one of the largest departments on CSU’s campus. State-of-the-art labs provide unmatched, hands-on experience to help undergraduate students conceptualize industry environments, and $18M in annual research expenditures provide groundbreaking opportunities focusing on health, materials, and energy, for graduate students to enhance their educational concentrations. Award-winning faculty offer industry and academic perspective and equip each graduate with the tools needed to obtain leading positions in advanced technology fields. The Mechanical Engineering program at CSU includes majors in both Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering-Mechanical Engineering; both curricula combine classroom learning with engineering practice. Our goal is to give our graduates the engineering skills they need to obtain leading positions in advanced technology fields. Our students are integral members of our research groups, and their thesis and dissertation topics focus on cutting-edge research. Further information about the Department can be found at

Position Summary

The CSU Department of Mechanical Engineering is seeking an Undergraduate Teaching Labs Manager who will have overall responsibility for the Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories, as a resource to Department Faculty and Staff members. The MECH Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories include:

• Mechatronics Lab
• Experimentation and Materials Lab
• Vibrations and Dynamics Lab
• Fluid and Thermal Sciences Lab
• Idea-2-Product 3D Printing Lab
• Engineering Manufacturing Education Center

These teaching labs support seven teaching lab courses and three project courses each semester, over 100 sections, and approximately 1,200 students. The annual budget is $250K.


The MECH Undergraduate Teaching Labs Manager is responsible for:

• Operational Efficiency – maintaining and improving the operation of the Undergraduate Teaching Labs; streamlining processes to improve the educational, hands-on experience for the undergraduate students.
• Leadership and Mentoring – providing exceptional support and service to students and colleagues, both on and off campus; moving efficiently to provide key information, recommendations, and proactive support.
• Innovation – supporting cutting-edge work, creating new instructional and training curriculum, and incorporating new technologies (like augmented and virtual reality) to enhance learning.
• Facilities – expanding existing and establishing new teaching labs and Senior Design Project space (in Fort Collins and in Alamosa) to maintain our hands-on engineering undergraduate program brand in Colorado.

Required Job Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering or closely related discipline.
• Four years relevant industry or academic experience in an engineering laboratory.
• Experience in the use, troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of Mechanical Engineering laboratory equipment.
• Knowledge of LabView, MATLAB, and other solid modeling software.
• Experience with data loggers, sensors (acquisition, installation, application, calibration, recording), and controls.
• Demonstrated knowledge of advanced manufacturing and prototyping skills.
• Demonstrated problem solving and decision-making skills.
• Organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain complex procedures.
• High degree of professionalism and ability to maintain confidentiality and work with sensitive information.
• Demonstrated ability to proactively analyze issues so as to foresee possible problems or concerns that may arise.
• Demonstrated ability to develop proactive solutions and initiate related action.
• Ability to establish and maintain positive and cooperative working relationships within the Department, College and University.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office 365 Applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook).

Preferred Job Qualifications

• MS in Mechanical Engineering or closely related discipline.
• Three years experience in teaching laboratory supervision.
• Undergraduate teaching experience.
• Ability to work with a wide variety of PC computers at the hardware level (memory, hard drives, optical and other storage devices, and wired and wireless networking) and the ability to do necessary system backups and computer cloning.
• Knowledge of environmental health and safety requirements and protocols.

Diversity Statement

Personal or professional commitment to diversity and inclusion as demonstrated by persistent effort, active planning, allocation of resources and/or accountability for diversity and inclusion outcomes.

Essential Duties

Job Duty Category

Lab Management

Duty/Responsibility

• Ensure that Undergraduate Lab Sections are prepared and executed as planned.
• Maintain MECH Undergraduate labs, lab equipment, tools and instrumentation. This includes, but is not limited to, maintenance, repair, reconfiguration, and operation of equipment.
• Renovate labs and upgrade / replace lab equipment and supplies, as required and determined by the person in this position.
• Identify and acquire or build infrastructure, apparatus, experiments, demonstrations, control software and GUIs.
• Implement, modify, and debug control software (e.g., LabView, MATLAB, etc.).
• Install, maintain and repair data acquisition systems and software packages.
• Be available when labs are open to resolve lab operations problems in real time.
• Maintain and update the Department’s capital equipment inventory.
• Execute proper disposal of excess, defective or obsolete equipment for the Department.
• Manage inventory of consumables.
• Coordinate training, tracking and disposal of hazardous waste.
• Explore online options for student preparation for labs, and develop remote and virtual laboratory experiments and protocols for longer laboratory closures.
• Prepare proposals and secure funding, implement cost-saving measures, and streamline processes to improve education.
• Ensure safety in all MECH Undergraduate Labs and facilitate changes to make the labs safer and cleaner.

Percentage Of Time

30%

Job Duty Category

Lab Curriculum Development

Duty/Responsibility

• Participate in pedagogical discussions and work collaboratively with ME Faculty to develop laboratory learning goals, create new lab capabilities and laboratory experiments / demonstrations, and incorporate them into the curriculum.
• Collaborate with Engineering Departments at other US institutions, share undergraduate lab instructional materials, and incorporate new concepts, ideas and approaches into CSU MECH undergraduate labs.
• Develop written laboratory practices, protocols, and manuals.
• Innovate to make graduate-level engineering concepts more accessible to undergraduate students.

Percentage Of Time

15%

Job Duty Category

Lab Administration

Duty/Responsibility

• Manage Special Course Fees (SCF) budgets and expenses, and prepare requests for new / changes to SCF assessments.
• Work with University and College peers to make laboratories less costly for students and more sustainable.
• Serve as Engineering Building B-Wing Proctor and coordinate with Engineering Building, Engineering Research Center, and Factory Building Proctors.
• Liaise with Facilities Management for keys and building access.
• Ensure MECH meets the needs of special accommodation students, such as those wheelchair-bound or visually / hearing impaired.

Percentage Of Time

15%

Job Duty Category

Supervision and Mentoring

Duty/Responsibility

• Supervise four MECH Undergraduate Lab Engineers.
• Supervise the performance of approximately ten Graduate Teaching Assistants assigned to Undergraduate Labs and provide guidance / solutions when issues arise.
• Supervise approximately fifteen MECH Student Employees assigned to support or improve the Undergraduate Teaching Labs.

Percentage Of Time

30%

Job Duty Category

Service and Outreach

Duty/Responsibility

Provide service outside the scope of normal job duties, such as committee work, commission and/or council membership, serving as an advisor, coach, collaborator, mentor, or on a task force, community and/or civic engagement, search committee activities, participation in professional organizations to advance the university and/or college’s scholarly and academic reputations, and volunteer (e.g., assist with commencement, conferences, fairs, move-in days, college and university events outside of immediate job responsibilities, etc.).

Percentage Of Time

10%

Application Details

Special Instructions to Applicants

Interested applicants must submit a cover letter which addresses how professional experiences align with identified required and preferred qualifications of the position and a current resume or CV.


CSU is committed to full inclusion of qualified individuals. If you are needing assistance or accommodations with the search process, please reach out to the listed search contact.


Contact information of references will be collected later in the search process. Please note, applicants may redact information from their application materials that identifies their age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

Conditions of Employment

Pre-employment Criminal Background Check (required for new hires)

Search Contact

Ellen Plese, Ellen.Plese@colostate.edu

EEO Statement

Colorado State University is committed to providing an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based on race, age, creed, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, or pregnancy in its employment, programs, services and activities, and admissions, and, in certain circumstances, marriage to a co-worker. The University will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. Colorado State University is an equal opportunity and equal access institution and affirmative action employer fully committed to achieving a diverse workforce and complies with all Federal and Colorado State laws, regulations, and executive orders regarding non-discrimination and affirmative action. The Office of Equal Opportunity is located in 101 Student Services.


The Title IX Coordinator is the Director of the Office of Title IX Programs and Gender Equity, 123 Student Services Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523-0160, (970) 491-1715, titleix@colostate.edu .


The Section 504 and ADA Coordinator is the Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity, 101 Student Services Building, Fort Collins, CO 80523-0160, (970) 491-5836, oeo@colostate.edu .


The Coordinator for any other forms of misconduct prohibited by the University’s Policy on Discrimination and Harassment is the Vice President for Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX, 101 Student Services Building, Fort Collins, Co. 80523-0160, (970) 491-5836, oeo@colostate.edu .


Any person may report sex discrimination under Title IX to the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Education .

Background Check Policy Statement

Colorado State University strives to provide a safe study, work, and living environment for its faculty, staff, volunteers and students. To support this environment and comply with applicable laws and regulations, CSU conducts background checks for the finalist before a final offer. The type of background check conducted varies by position and can include, but is not limited to, criminal history, sex offender registry, motor vehicle history, financial history, and/or education verification. Background checks will also be conducted when required by law or contract and when, in the discretion of the University, it is reasonable and prudent to do so.

Job Tags

Full time, Contract work, Temporary work, Immediate start, Remote job,

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