Entry Level R&D Mechanical Engineer Jobs in Lafayette, IN

Clinical Assistant Professor of Machine Systems for Climate Smart Crop Production
City: West Lafayette
Job Description:
Position
Assistant Clinical Professor (9-month appointment with opportunities for summer support) position at Purdue University with Extension and teaching responsibilities related to regenerative and climate smart crop production with an emphasis on agricultural machine systems and equipment integrated with emerging digital technologies, automation, and data analytics
Qualifications
Faculty and Instruction
Job Sub Family
A Ph.D. in Agricultural Systems Management, Agricultural Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or other closely related fields. Ph.D. required by employment start date. Demonstrated knowledge of machine systems for field crop production, soil health, conservation agriculture including regenerative and climate smart practices, and soil systems. The ideal candidate will have experience in developing and delivering extension programs and college courses, strong oral and written communication skills, and problem solving as well as the ability to work in multidisciplinary teams. Highly competitive applicants should have at least one year of experience teaching agricultural systems management or similar courses. Experience in content creation, grant writing, and refereed publications is highly desirable.
Responsibilities
This is a non-tenure track, academic-year appointment with 50% Extension and 50% teaching responsibilities for undergraduate and graduate courses.
Expected Extension duties: The candidate is expected to collaborate with and develop programs within Purdue Extension in areas related but not limited to farm machinery, equipment setup and modifications, and emerging digital technologies to enable climate smart and regenerative crop production systems such as no-till, cover cropping, and other conservation cropping system practices. The candidate will collaborate closely with the Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative (CCSI) and other stakeholders. CCSI is a program of the Indiana Conservation Partnership with a mission of improving soil health on Indiana cropland. In collaboration with faculty and staff from other academic units, the candidate will conduct needs assessments, provide technical assistance, develop Extension outputs such as videos, Extension publications, reports, and popular press articles, and host workshops, trainings, and Extension programs. Collaboration with Purdue on the Farm supporting field demonstrations and applied research is strongly encouraged.
Expected teaching duties: The candidate is expected to teach and develop courses in the ABE department related to agricultural machinery and equipment for regenerative and climate smart agriculture cropping systems, precision agriculture, digital agriculture, and data science applications in agriculture. The exact number and courses are to be determined on an annual basis. The potential exists for teaching online/distance courses during the academic year.
Applicants are invited to consider teaching a selection of these potential courses:
ASM 22200: Crop Production Equipment
ASM 34500: Power Units and Power Trains
ASM 42200: Advanced Machine Tech for Crop Production
ASM 53000: Power and Machinery Management
ABE 30600: (Proposed) Data Analysis and Geospatial Prescriptions
ABE 32200: (Proposed) Design of Modern Ag Machinery
The College
The Department is an integral part of the College of Agriculture, one of the world's leading colleges of agricultural, food, life, and natural resource sciences and ranked fifth in the world in the 2023 QS World University Rankings. The College is deeply committed to the three land-grant missions (teaching, research, and extension), to international activities and perspectives that span all missions, and to excellence in all we do. The College has 11 academic departments and includes 290 faculty, 2984 undergraduate students, and 690 graduate students.
Appointment and Salary
Assistant Clinical Professor (9-month appointment; non-tenure-track). Salary commensurate with qualifications and experience. A background check will be required for employment in this position.
Application Instructions
Interested applicants must submit an application packet that includes a cover letter that speaks to the candidate's qualifications for and interests in the position with contact information, a curriculum vitae that includes a summary of academic and other professional experiences, a statement of Teaching and Extension Philosophy including applied research interests applicable to Teaching and Extension, and the names and contact information for three professional references. Applications can be submitted at [careers.purdue.edu link]. Review of applications will begin on November 3, 2025 and continue until a suitable candidate is identified. Address questions to the chair of the search committee, Dr. Roger Tormoehlen (torm@purdue.edu). A background check will be required for employment in this position.
Target start date: TBD
Purdue Information
Purdue University is an EOE/AA employer. All individuals, including minorities, women, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply.