Research Associate II

Job Summary

The Drexel Wireless Systems Laboratory (DWSL) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering seeks a highly motivated Research Associate to provide day-to-day technical leadership and help advance the laboratory's research, educational, and outreach activities. This position is ideal for an independent and collaborative researcher who enjoys developing new research directions, building experimental systems, mentoring students, and cultivating interdisciplinary partnerships.
Working closely with the faculty director, the Research Associate will help translate broad research opportunities into focused projects, functioning prototypes, student research experiences, scholarly publications, and competitive proposals. The successful candidate will have meaningful opportunities to shape the laboratory's technical direction and to build a visible record of research leadership, mentorship, publication, and collaboration.

The laboratory's research will be organized around three complementary themes:
* Experimental wireless systems and platforms, including software-defined radio, RF systems, antennas, embedded platforms, testbeds, and reproducible wireless experimentation.
* Intelligent wireless sensing and communications, including integrated sensing and communications, localization, AI-enabled wireless systems, edge intelligence, resilient networking, and digital twins for wireless experimentation.
* Interdisciplinary RF and connected technologies, including wearable and fabric electronics, RF-enabled healthcare technologies, wireless sensors, and collaborative applications spanning engineering, computer science, and biomedical engineering.

Candidates are not expected to have expertise in every area. Applicants with depth in one or more themes and an interest in working across disciplinary boundaries are encouraged to apply.

The Research Associate will conduct hands-on research, guide undergraduate and graduate researchers, contribute to laboratory-based instruction, develop scholarly and proposal materials, and represent the laboratory through demonstrations, outreach activities, and collaborations with academic, government, and industrial partners.

Essential Functions

• Research and Technical Leadership:
  
  
  
  • Conduct independent and collaborative research within the laboratory's primary research themes.
  • Identify focused and feasible research questions, develop research plans, and lead projects from initial concept through experimentation, analysis, and dissemination.
  • Design, develop, evaluate, and integrate hardware and software platforms for experimental wireless research, including software-defined radios, embedded computing platforms, wireless sensors, RF instrumentation, simulation environments, and research software.
  • Develop prototypes, preliminary results, reusable experimental capabilities, and other foundations for publications, collaborations, and future sponsored research.
  • Remain current with emerging research trends and help identify promising directions that strengthen the laboratory's scholarly visibility and competitiveness for external funding.
  • Establish sound practices for reproducible experimentation, technical documentation, software management, and research continuity.
  
  
  
  
• Student Mentoring and Team Development:
  
  
  
  • Provide day-to-day technical guidance for undergraduate and graduate students working in the laboratory.
  • Help students define achievable research questions, design experiments, analyze results, troubleshoot technical problems, and communicate their work effectively.
  • Organize student project teams and establish a regular cadence of project planning, technical review, and feedback.
  • Review student technical reports, publications, presentations, posters, demonstrations, and software or hardware deliverables.
  • Develop onboarding materials and research practices that enable students to become productive contributors to the laboratory.
  • Foster an inclusive, collaborative, safe, and intellectually engaging research environment. Research Development and Scholarly Communication.
  • Contribute to peer-reviewed publications, conference papers, technical reports, invited presentations, demonstrations, and other scholarly outputs.
  • Coordinate collaborative writing and help maintain steady progress from experimental results to publication.
  • Identify relevant funding opportunities and contribute technical concepts, preliminary results, figures, project plans, and narrative material for proposals.
  • Help develop new interdisciplinary research initiatives and cultivate productive relationships with academic, government, community, and industrial collaborators.
  • Contribute to future sponsored projects as opportunities develop, including technical planning, execution, documentation, and communication of results.
  
  
  
  
• Educational Support:
  
  
  
  • Support selected laboratory-intensive, simulation-based, and project-based courses within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
  • Develop or improve laboratory exercises, demonstrations, instructional materials, software examples, and experimental platforms related to the laboratory's technical areas.
  • Assist students with wireless, embedded, RF, simulation, and software-development activities associated with laboratory or project-based learning.
  • Participate, as appropriate, in selected instructional activities consistent with departmental needs and the terms of the appointment.
  
  
  
  
• Laboratory Infrastructure and Operations:
  
  
  
  • Maintain a reliable, documented, and accessible experimental environment for student and faculty research.
  • Support the effective use and routine care of software-defined radio platforms, RF measurement equipment, embedded systems, computing resources, research servers, and associated software.
  • Maintain technical documentation, software repositories, equipment-use practices, and appropriate laboratory safety procedures.
  • Recommend prioritized improvements to laboratory capabilities and coordinate technical implementation of approved upgrades.
  
  
  
  
• Outreach and Research Visibility:
  
  
  
  • Develop and support compelling laboratory demonstrations, research showcases, campus events, and outreach activities.
  • Help communicate the laboratory's work to prospective students, collaborators, sponsors, and broader audiences.
  • Participate in activities involving K-12 students, educators, community partners, and other visitors, as appropriate.
  • Represent the laboratory professionally in internal and external technical meetings and collaborative activities.
  • Other Duties Perform other research, educational, laboratory, and outreach duties consistent with the scope of the position.
  
  
  
  
• Initial Areas of Emphasis During the initial appointment period, the Research Associate will work with the faculty director to:
  
  
  
  • Establish a focused portfolio of technically feasible research initiatives aligned with the laboratory's primary themes.
  • Develop experimental platforms, prototypes, preliminary results, and reusable research capabilities that support scholarly publication and future proposals.
  • Establish effective structures for student onboarding, mentorship, project review, documentation, and research continuity.
  • Strengthen the laboratory's pipeline of undergraduate and graduate research participation.
  • Develop reusable instructional resources and demonstrations that connect the laboratory's research with education and outreach.
  • Expand the laboratory's scholarly visibility and develop new interdisciplinary collaborations.
  
  
  
  

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related field or the equivalent combination of education and work experience. (Please review the Equivalency Chart for additional information.)
• Minimum of 1-2 years of experience.
• Exceptional candidates with an MS degree and substantial research and technical leadership experience may also be considered.
• Demonstrated research experience in wireless communications, RF systems, signal processing, networking, embedded systems, wireless sensing, or a related discipline.
• Strong programming experience using Python and at least one additional technical language or environment such as MATLAB or C++.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and technical writing skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, set priorities, and translate broad objectives into concrete technical outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability or strong potential to mentor undergraduate or graduate student researchers.
• Ability to document technical processes, coordinate collaborative work, and follow projects through experimentation, analysis, and dissemination.

Preferred Qualifications

• In one or more of the following areas:
  
  
  
  
  • Software-defined radio and wireless prototyping
  • Wireless communications and digital signal processing
  • RF measurement and characterization
  • Antenna design and testing
  • Embedded systems, printed circuit board design, or IoT platforms
  • Machine learning and artificial intelligence for wireless systems
  • Wireless sensing, localization, or integrated sensing and communications
  • Computer networking, distributed systems, or resilient wireless systems
  • Linux-based research computing environments
  • Containerized and reproducible computing environments
  • Scientific writing and publication
  • Technical proposal development
  • Laboratory course development or instructional support
  • Student research-team leadership
  
  
  
  

Physical Demands

• Typically sitting at a desk/table
• Typically standing, walking
• Typically bending, crouching, stooping
• Lifting demands 25lbs

Location

• University City - Philadelphia, PA

Additional Information
This position is classified as Exempt, grade K. Compensation for this grade ranges from $60,240.00 - $90,350.00 per year. Please note that the offered rate for this position will vary based on the successful candidate's qualifications and experience, department budget, and an internal equity review.

Applicants are encouraged to explore the Professional Staff salary structure and Compensation Guidelines & Policies for more details on Drexel's compensation framework. For information about benefits, please review Drexel's Benefits Brochure.

Special Instructions to the Applicant
Please make sure you upload your CV/resume and cover letter when submitting your application.

A review of applicants will begin once a suitable candidate pool is identified.