Research Assistant

Texas A&M Transportation Institute•Bryan, TX

17h•Onsite

About The Position

The Research Assistant is responsible for performing skilled, administrative, and managerial support work for various research projects. Specifically, the position will involve assisting in the design, planning, scheduling, and executing of laboratory and field research work including experimentations, equipment installation/removal, site monitoring, data collection, and non-destructive pavement testing. The position will also involve managing the student laboratories as well as providing technical support, maintenance, and management of research equipment. The position will also involve extensive routine fieldwork travels including working after normal business hours, weekends, and/or at night, as needed. Continued employment in this position is contingent upon availability of funding and satisfactory performance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant engineering field
No work experience required
Ability and flexibility to routinely travel for fieldwork including work beyond normal business hours, weekends, and/or at night, as needed
Familiarity with Python, AbaQus, MATLAB, and VBA software platforms
Conversant with the basic Microsoft Office software package
Ability to perform traffic data analysis and quality checks
Ability to perform finite element modeling
Ability to multi-task and work cooperatively with others.
Flexibility to work beyond normal business hours, weekends, and/or at night, as needed
Ability to perform common office functions and fluently communicate with others.
Valid USA Class C driver’s license or ability to obtain within 30 days of employment

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in an engineering related field
Six months to one year of related experience
Knowledge of piezoelectric and Weigh-In-Motion (WIM) sensors
Electrical engineering and electronics knowledge
Program coding and software development skills including Machine Learning and AI algorithms

Responsibilities

Fieldwork travels and data collection (33%)
Equipment installation in the field, sensor setup, site checks, and removal (30%)
Assist in the design, planning, scheduling, and coordinating laboratory and field experimental works in support of various research projects (7%)
Program coding, machine learning algorithms, macros, & software development for data processing, analysis, and quality control (QC) checks (5%)
Data analysis, synthesis, quality checks, technical auditing/review, report writing, & documentation (10%)
Maintenance and management of research equipment and student labs (5%)
Computational modeling, finite element analysis, & numerical simulations (5%)
Laboratory testing and scientific measurements, as needed (3%)
Assist student workers and other junior technical staff, as needed (1%)
Assist and perform other duties, as assigned by senior researchers (1%)