Assistant Adjunct Professor – Engineering Skills Education Director
Anticipated start: September 21, 2026
Position duration: One-year with possibility of renewal
Percent time:100%
The UC Davis Professional Master’s Program in Medical Device Development (MDD) invites applications to serve as Instructor of Record in the graduate level “Engineering Skills” sequence offered across Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters (courses are MDD 421: Engineering Skills 1: Computer Aided Design and Simulation; MDD 422: Engineering Skills 2: Electronics, microcontrollers, and coding; MDD 423: Engineering Skills 3: Prototyping. In addition to formal instruction, the candidate will oversee curriculum development, mentor student project teams, and support experiential learning activities within the Tech Foundry.
Candidates will be expected to contribute to the research and scholarly mission of the Tech Foundry through engineering design, prototype development, and translational research activities. They will also collaborate with faculty, researchers, clinicians and industry partners on projects, presentations and publications.
Research & Scholarly Work (65%)
The candidate is expected to contribute to the research and scholarly mission of the Tech Foundry through engineering design, prototype development, and translational research activities. The Tech Foundry is a core self-supporting device development facility with a mission to support research, innovation, and instructional support in the medical domain and beyond. The candidate will collaborate with faculty, researchers, clinicians, and industry partners on projects involving mechanical design, machining, CAM, additive manufacturing, and fabrication workflows. Contributions may include supporting and collaborating on scholarly publications, presentations, and other research activities that advance innovation, device development, and engineering solutions in healthcare and related fields.
Teaching (30%)
The candidate is expected to serve as the Engineering Skills Education Director for the UC Davis Tech Foundry. Responsibilities include serving as Instructor of Record for the SSGPDP graduate-level Engineering Skills sequence (MDD 421, 422, and 423), a three-course series that provides hands-on training in medical device design and development (see below for course descriptions). The curriculum includes engineering computing, CAD, simulation, prototyping, additive manufacturing, CNC machining, electronics, embedded systems, and machine learning applications for medical devices.
In addition to formal instruction, the candidate will oversee curriculum development for self-supporting activities, mentor student project teams, and support experiential learning activities within the Tech Foundry. The candidate is also expected to lead the development and delivery of non-degree educational programs, technical workshops, and workforce development activities for students, industry professionals, and community audiences.
MDD 421: Engineering Skills I (3 units, Fall) introduces foundational skills in coding (Python), computer-aided design (CAD), and numerical simulation. Students develop engineering problem-solving capabilities through modeling, finite element analysis, and design for manufacturability, with an emphasis on real-world medical device applications.
MDD 422: Engineering Skills II (3 units, Winter) builds on these foundations and focuses on prototyping and manufacturing. Students gain hands-on experience with rapid prototyping technologies such as 3D printing, laser cutting, and CNC machining, while learning to translate CAD designs into physical devices. The course also introduces workflows for converting medical imaging data into anatomical models and emphasizes design for fabrication in a regulated biomedical context.
MDD 423: Engineering Skills III (3 units, Spring) advances into integrated systems and emerging technologies, including electronics, embedded systems, and machine learning for medical devices. Students work with single-board computers, sensors, and custom circuit design, culminating in a project to build a functional device (e.g., a calorie-estimation system using optical sensing and ML techniques).
University and Professional Service (5%)
The candidate is expected to contribute service to the Department of Biomedical Engineering through participation on committees and working groups that support departmentally based self-supporting graduate professional degree programs. Service activities may include curriculum planning, program assessment, student recruitment, admissions, and continuous improvement efforts that advance the educational mission and long-term success of the programs.
The University will not offer sponsorship for this position. The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate that they are legally authorized to work in the United States.
