Research Engineer

Position Overview

The Electronics Design Engineer (EDE) is a member of the design and development team of the Instrumentation Design Laboratory at the University of Kansas. The mission of the Laboratory is design and development of custom instruments and computing systems for research groups in engineering and the natural sciences. The EDE applies advanced knowledge of scientific research and engineering principles and practices in broad areas of assignments. The EDE will participate in the joint design, development, and deployment of instrumentation for international collaborations.

Job Description

20% - Real-Time Programming: Programs will be written for real-time data acquisition and control in an Embedded System environment. Typical platforms use ARM, Atmel AVR devices and Arduino and RPi boards. As skills allow, Field-Programmable Gate Arrays will be supported. A very good understanding of Hardware Description Languages will be required as well as an understanding of the FPGA architecture.

15% - Electronic Circuit Design: Designs the electronic circuits and systems used in an instrument, utilizing advanced knowledge of design principles and of advanced integrated circuits, programmable logic, and microprocessors. Extremely complex and varied problems will be encountered requiring creativity, foresight, and mature judgment.

15% - Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Design: Designs and lays out high-performance PCBs. Advanced concepts of layout design are required for achieving very low noise and very high speed, often with controlled-impedance traces. Multi-layer boards (typically 2-6 layers) are required. Boards will be laid out using CAD.

15% - Fabrication and prototype testing: Electronics components often will be hand-mounted on prototype PCBs. These include high-density integrated circuits. Testing circuits will involve devising test protocols and using oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzers, etc.

10% - 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD), modeling and 3d printing for packaging of instrumentation electronics in appropriate mounts and housings will be required.

10% - Application development for PCs

5% - Supervision: Engineering technicians and assistants may be assigned tasks on projects being designed and built.

5% - Multi-institutional Project Development: Participates in multi-institutional planning meetings.

5% - Completion of other duties as required for the mission of the Instrumentation Design Laboratory.

Required Qualifications

• High school/GED and 5 years related experience OR Associate’s degree with 3 years related experience OR Bachelor’s degree with 1 year of related experience OR Master’s degree in Electronics Engineering or related field.

• 3 years of experience in an engineering research related occupation, including 6 months of experience working with the following: analogue circuit design; digital circuit design; C/C++ programming for embedded systems; printed circuit board layout; high speed data acquisition design; microcontroller such as a PIC series processor; FPGA or CPLD implementation; development of scientific instrumentation; and circuit debugging.

Preferred Qualifications

• Radio frequency design experience.

• Experience with microcontroller-implemented designs.

• Programming skills in the following languages: C/C++, C#, LabVIEW, MatLab/Simulink, Python.

• Experience with development of scientific instrumentation.

• Experience in a basic science research laboratory.

Additional Candidate Instructions

A complete application requires a resume/CV, cover letter, and a list of three references. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed.

Application review begins Monday, January 4th. For consideration, please apply no later than Sunday, January 3rd.

Contact Information to Applicants

Christian Hornhuber

[email protected]

785-864-4626

Advertised Salary Range

$69,500 to $75,000

Application Review Begins

Monday January 4, 2027

Anticipated Start Date

Monday February 1, 2027

Apply to Job

Posting Information

• Posting ID: 33911BR
• Department: Physics and Astronomy
• Primary Campus: University of Kansas Lawrence Campus
• Assignment: On-Site
• Reg/Temp: Regular
• Employee Class: U-Unclassified Professional Staff
• Review Begins: 04-Jan-2027