Postdoctoral Research Associate (Vokkarane Lab) Electrical & Computer Engineering

General Summary of Position:

The successful applicant will lead technical research development and integration for the NSF MRI Track 2 SUMMIT project (Development of a Secure and Resilient Multi-site Smart Grid Testbed for Multidisciplinary Research and Training). Working with the Principal Investigator and teams at UMass Lowell New York University and West Virginia University the Postdoctoral Research Associate will lead cross-site integration federation development hardware-in-the-loop experimentation resilient networking and cybersecurity integration and distributed digital-twin coordination while contributing to project reports scholarly publications proposals and student mentoring.

The Center for Smart Cyber-Physical Systems (SCyPS) works to facilitate interdisciplinary research to develop high-impact practical solutions to the challenges we currently face as these complex systems continue to integrate computation and physical processes. By enhancing capabilities protecting data and evaluating and optimizing technologies SCyPS will support a connected smart yet resilient society.UMass Lowell Center for Smart Cyber-Physical Systems

Essential Job Duties:

1. Lead research development and cross-site integration for the SUMMIT platform. This specifically involves:

• Lead day-to-day development of the open federated hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulation platform connecting UML NYU and WVU.
• Integrate and validate real-time power-grid simulation control monitoring networking cybersecurity and time-synchronization components including RTDS/OPAL-RT resources and software-defined networking.
• Develop and execute distributed-HIL Internet-in-the-loop heterogeneous digital-twin and cyber-resilience experiments.
• Implement and validate standardized site interfaces secure inter-site connectivity monitoring/telemetry fail-over rollback and fault-recovery mechanisms.
• Measure and analyze latency throughput timing alignment fault recovery and simulation fidelity against project performance targets.
• Maintain reproducible software configuration experiment documentation and technical deliverables; ensure milestones are completed on time and to a high standard. 60 %

2. Project coordination and research operations.

• Serve as a technical liaison among the PI site leads institutional IT liaisons research staff and collaborating partners. Coordinate cross-site integration schedules testing activities technical documentation risk mitigation interface change control and preparation of project status reports and deliverables. 15%

3. Assist supervisor in writing scholarly articles technical reports and proposals for grant funding. The successful candidate will be expected to lead and assist in the formulation and writing of externally funded research proposals including identifying appropriate opportunities and collaborators generating preliminary results and contributing technical content. The successful candidate will be expected to lead peer-reviewed publications based on the research conducted with a goal of at least one first-author article per year and to participate in conference papers presentations datasets demonstrations and other project dissemination activities. 15 %

4. Attend and support meetings related to the research project.

• Participate in regular project meetings cross-site integration calls milestone/risk reviews and meetings with external collaborators and users; present technical progress and action items as assigned. 5%

5. Mentoring of graduate and undergraduate researchers.

• Provide day-to-day technical guidance to doctoral and undergraduate researchers; review research plans software experiments results papers and progress toward project milestones. 5%

Promote the Universitys commitment to customer service by:

• Building effective partnerships with co-workers throughout the University by freely sharing appropriate information and providing assistance when needed.
• Ensure optimum service to all internal and external partners in response to requests for service and information.
• Maintain an environment that is welcoming to persons of all backgrounds nationalities and roles.

Minimum Qualifications (Required):

• PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering Computer Engineering Computer Science Power/Energy Systems or a closely related field.
• Research experience including work completed during the PhD in one or more of the following areas: smart grids/power systems cyber-physical systems computer networking/SDN cybersecurity distributed systems/digital twins or real-time/HIL simulation.
• Experience developing integrating or validating experimental platforms/testbeds and conducting quantitative performance evaluation.
• Experience collaborating across technical disciplines and producing research documentation peer-reviewed publications or technical presentations.
• Strong programming/scripting analytical debugging and software/hardware integration skills.
• Ability to design reproducible experiments and analyze metrics such as latency throughput synchronization accuracy fault recovery and simulation fidelity.
• Ability to work independently with limited direction and to lead day-to-day technical integration within a multidisciplinary multi-institution team.
• Strong technical report writing scholarly writing presentation and communication skills.
• Strong quantitative research methods and data-analysis skills.

Other Job Duties:

• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Additional Considerations:

• Demonstrated publication record with at least one peer-reviewed publication in a relevant field.
• Hands-on experience with one or more of the following is preferred: RTDS or OPAL-RT; hardware-in-the-loop simulation; SDN and network monitoring; grid-control/monitoring protocols such as IEEE C37.118 IEC 61850 DNP3 or IEEE 2030.5; GPS/PTP/IRIG-B timing; cybersecurity experimentation; or distributed digital twins.
• Ability to mentor and inspire graduate and undergraduate researchers with varying levels of research experience.
• Experience contributing to externally funded research projects proposal development shared research infrastructure or external-user support is desirable.

Special Instructions to Applicants:

Only current UML Employees within the Grants & Contracts (MTA/GRACE) bargaining unit will be considered during the first 10 business days of the posting. All other candidates will be considered after that period.

This position is full-time benefited and in the Grants & Contracts union in GradePD. Anticipated salary based on qualifications within the range with minimum: $th quartile: $56500 and midpoint: $63000.

This position is contingent upon funding. The initial appointment will be for one year with anticipated renewal for up to three years total based on productivity and performance and the availability of funding.

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled; however the posting may close when an adequate number of qualified applications is received.

Please include a resume cover letter publication list and research statement with your and contact information of three references will be required during the application process. Submission of a research interest publications in peer-reviewed journals research publications and sample ofscholarly work/publication is optional.