What are the responsibilities and job description for the Postdoctoral Research Associate - Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing position at Virginia Commonwealth University?
The Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering in the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University seeks culturally and professionally diverse candidates to apply for the Postdoctoral Research Associate - Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing position.
Since its inception in 1996, the Virginia Commonwealth University College of Engineering has brought innovative, real-world engineering education to Central Virginia. Comprised of five different departments plus the Dean’s office, the College of Engineering enrolls more than 2,000 undergraduate and 450 graduate students in several degree programs supported by approximately 600 full-time, part-time, and student employees. As part of a premier research university known for tenacity, love of the city of Richmond, and commitment to diversity and access, the College of Engineering values the significant and positive impact of our people and ideas in the promotion of regional and global prosperity involving research and life sciences.
Position Responsibilities:
The successful candidate will have a unique opportunity to develop and expand upon a diversified technical skill set while making a positive contribution to partnering and leading students (undergraduate and graduate) as well as faculty in the execution of existing research initiatives by supporting experimental design, implementation, and analysis. Aiding the identification, evaluation, and development (e.g. from brainstorming to proposal preparation) of new research horizons across the focus areas of the group.
Research projects for this position will involve leveraging modern computational and computer-learning methods to facilitate process development, verification, and validation of continuous (chemical and pharmaceutical) manufacturing. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in chemical engineering, computational modeling methods, and/or artificial intelligence. Preference will be given to candidates who have experience in pharmaceutical process development and/or implementation of AI in advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing. In this position, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work and collaborate with a large network of scientists and engineers.
Required Qualifications:
- Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering or a related field.
- Experience with computational modeling methods for chemical manufacturing systems (eg. multiphase flow, reacting flow)
- Proficiency in commonly used coding languages (ex. Python)
- Demonstrated ability to publish research findings, preferably in high impact scientific journal
- Ability to work collaboratively with research teams to better assist them in accomplishing their goal
- Strong written/oral skills required, and ability to communicate technical concepts to a non-technical audience
- Ability to mentor junior team members, and ensure the highest levels of laboratory safety
- Excellent communication skills
- Ability to work under tight deadlines and short turnaround times
- The College of Engineering at VCU champions diversity, equity and inclusion in all that we do. Cultivating an ecosystem where differences are celebrated and our faculty, staff, and students have the opportunity to thrive is at the core of how we operate. The successful candidate will demonstrate experience that shows their commitment to fostering such an environment.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience in managing controlled state to continuous reactors to meet quality specifications.- Experience using mechanistic models and control systems (including the use of PAT) for managing multiphase flow-based reactions and separations
- Experience in implementing various modes of separations including liquid phase separations and multiphase separations
- Familiarity with automated systems and integration of those systems into a single end-to-end platform
- Experience with advanced modeling methods, such as computational modeling of fluid dynamics (CFD) in experimental systems, SolidWorks/AUTOCAD for reactor modeling, and/or as well as MATLAB, etc. for data analysis.
- Proficiency in predictive AI and experience in implementing prescriptive AI for process development
About the College of Engineering:
The College of Engineering’s mission is to create and grow a diverse community of exceptional students, faculty, staff, alumni, and industry partners that strive to create a common future for all where innovative, sustainable, and equitable solutions to global engineering challenges are realized for the benefit of this generation and future generations. Additional information about the department’s programs and faculty may be found at https://egr.vcu.edu/departments/chemical/.
FLSA Status: Exempt
ORP Eligible: Yes
Salary Range: $60,000 to $65,000
Position Details:
Department: College of Engineering- Chemical and Life Science Engineering
Employment Type: PD - Post Doc
Restricted Status: Yes
FTE: 100
Exemption Status: Exempt
Contact Information:
Contact Name: Emily Perrault
Contact Email: perraultek@vcu.edu
Contact Phone:
Salary : $60,000 - $65,000
