Senior Technologist, Laboratory Support

University of Ottawa•Ottawa, ON

5d•CA$72,437 - CA$91,502•Onsite

About The Position

The Faculty of Engineering strives to provide a learning environment that promotes excellence and innovation, ethical practice and responsibility towards society. Our workplace will challenge, energize and motivate you to be your very best while providing opportunities for career growth and professional development. Our work makes a world of difference in the lives of our students, who will become the next generation of leaders and change makers of our society. Our dynamic community is dedicated to building innovations that will not only help the advancement of technology, but solutions that will revolutionize the industry. We look forward to making the future TOGETHER! Reporting to the Lead Technician, Laboratory Support, this position performs a variety of technical activities in support of clients, including students, teaching assistants, faculty members, and other scientific or engineering professionals, in an assigned group of specialized scientific teaching lab infrastructures and research equipment. Provides complex technical advice, support, and training to clients in the research, analysis, design, development, production, set-up, testing, operation, and maintenance of laboratory systems and research instrumentation to the specification of the department or faculty’s curriculum or research requirements in order to achieve the experimental objectives and ensure safe working practices. The work is performed with minimal supervision, under general guidelines, and requires full awareness of the various technologies used. This position is intended to support both chemical engineering research and teaching laboratories.

Requirements

Undergraduate degree in natural/applied sciences or related discipline or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Minimum 3 years of experience providing support and technical advice in a teaching/research laboratory.
Knowledge of laboratory tools, equipment, instruments, materials, and hazards and their safe usage.
Knowledge of Health and Safety rules, regulations and University policies and procedures related to the operation of labs and lab equipment/material.
Knowledge of computers and data acquisition procedures.
Experience in providing technical support and advice to users for lab equipment.
Experience in designing, fabricating, assembling, building, testing and repairing special purpose lab equipment.
Experience in preparing and developing scientific experiments.
Experience in writing and developing technical reports and other related documentation.
Ability to read and understand texts of considerable difficulty requiring understanding of concepts, procedures, and instructions.
Analytical skills to diagnose and repair laboratory equipment and material issues.
Ability to communicate technical concepts to users.
Experience in teaching and student evaluation.
Bilingualism - French and English (spoken and written)

Nice To Haves

Experience in electronic circuit design and troubleshooting is an asset.
Knowledge of chemical engineering processes is an asset.
Knowledge of instrumentation, data acquisition networks and LabVIEW software development is an asset.
Knowledge of the specialized areas of research supported by the department or Faculty.

Responsibilities

Meets with clients to identify and analyze their needs for special purpose complex scientific/research lab equipment relating to selection of relevant instrumentation and data acquisition hardware.
Develops software program code, mainly using National Instruments LabVIEW software to interface with data acquisition hardware networks.
Maintains instruments and data acquisition equipment located in designated laboratories by regular maintenance for performance and accuracy.
Designs, assembles, installs, tests, maintains and repairs assigned laboratory equipment and materials as well as research equipment and instrumentation meet specific client needs and to ensure accurate and proper functionality.
Analyzes and diagnoses the causes of lab malfunctions and carries out the required repair actions in order to maintain lab functionality for clients.
Under the direction of the supervisor or faculty, carries out applied research related to experimental methods in fields related to the assigned labs.
Trains, performs demonstrations for, and supports teaching assistants and students as well as research personnel in the use of lab equipment and materials to improve end-user proficiency.
Promotes and supervises the responsible use of all lab equipment and materials to contribute to the safety of all users and to safeguard the value of the University’s assets.
May interact with students and teaching assistants to provide support beyond demonstrations that assists with the description of concepts and the analysis of data to ensure that experimental objectives are successfully achieved.
Evaluates components of student performance and understanding as part of the grading process.
Ensures that all assigned laboratories operate in accordance with the Health and Safety rules of the University, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, WHMIS and any other applicable regulations.
Ensures that research equipment and associated workspaces are operated and maintained in compliance with applicable safety procedures and user training requirements.
Mitigates risk by ensuring that there is always a lab staff member present during scheduled labs, as well as during operating hours when clients may use the facilities outside of labs.
Provides advice regarding the design of lab equipment and accessories to ensure the feasibility of fabrication and provides build or fabricating consultation services when required.
Translates product specifications, such as verbal requests or sketches, to design equipment and accessories.
May participate in the fabrication of this specialized lab equipment to create prototypes to meet teaching and research requirements of users.
Acts as a resource person within the field by imparting skills and knowledge to clients at all levels of design and fabrication.
Provides purchasing advice by researching, evaluating and recommending new equipment as it relates to instrumentation and data acquisition hardware.
Maintains regular contact with suppliers to obtain information and necessary diagrams to carry out work, repair and modifications as required.