Date:	August, 2012
Reports to (Job Title):	Chair, Systems Design Engineering
Jobs Reporting (Job Titles):	Teaching Assistants, Co-op Student
Location:	Main Campus
Grade:	USG 11/12 37.5 hr/wk

Primary Purpose

The “Lab Instructor” is a key resource for the undergraduate students in Systems Design Engineering and provides guidance, instruction and technical assistance for those enrolled in all departmental lab, design-project and workshop courses. The Lab Instructor is responsible for the operation of the undergraduate teaching laboratory and acts as the primary manager and mentor to the laboratory Teaching Assistants.

Key Accountabilities:

The undergraduate teaching laboratory is devoted to the three core undergraduate courses. These courses currently span the areas of digital systems; circuits, instrumentation and measurements; and control systems. The teaching component of this position takes place in both formal as well as informal settings and incumbent will be expected to work independently with minimal supervision. Formal instruction includes presenting an introduction at the start of each lab session to highlight background information, relevancy of the lab exercise to course material, and problems students may encounter. As such, the lab instructor must be highly competent in the material for the three lab courses offered by the Department. Formal instruction can also include classroom lecturing in consultation with the department chair and/or associate undergraduate chair. Informal instruction includes addressing student questions during lab sessions, during scheduled office hours, and through impromptu student interactions.

The lab instructor is responsible for the setup and maintenance of equipment in the lab to ensure that all is functioning as per manufacturers'/design specifications. This responsibility also includes the design and fabrication of lab apparatuses. Additionally, the lab instructor is responsible for planning and procurement of supplies and equipment for the undergraduate lab, and this often is accomplished via preparation of a WEEF (Waterloo Engineering Endowment Foundation) funding proposal with a maximum frequency of once per term.

As a hardware/software/mechanical design consultant, the lab instructor will help students in workshop and project courses to both conceptualize and realize their engineering design goals, and direct them to appropriate resources both inside and outside the University. Therefore, the lab instructor must have comprehensive theoretical and practical knowledge of electronic components, circuit design, embedded software and control, software design, sensors, actuators, user interfaces, mechanical components, systems and fabrication, and other common technical areas found in the Systems Design Engineering curriculum. The incumbent will have a broad and in-depth knowledge base from which to generate solutions to highly unstructured problems at both theoretical and practical levels and will need to apply a sound analytical and interpretive level of critical thinking to achieve this goal.

In addition to the design consultant role, the lab instructor also manages a small budget which is allocated to fund the acquisition of equipment and materials required by students for workshop projects. In this capacity, the individual will review proposals submitted by students, make purchase decisions according to the merit of the submissions and department needs, and then track the outcome of the acquisitions.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

Provide instructional support and mentoring to students in all Systems Design Engineering laboratory courses:

Present theory and concepts to students pertaining to laboratory experiments
Demonstrate all laboratory experiments in all Systems Design Engineering lab courses
Present and develop information for students concerning laboratory safety
Prepare and modify laboratory manuals and procedures as needed
Apply pedagogical expertise to continuously improve lab course structure and content; this may include independent and significant modification or redesign of lab material in addition to development of innovative material for new courses
Collaborate with academic counterparts of lab courses to effectively synchronize the learning experience
Enrich the student experience of the lab component through the development of multi-media instructional aids such as videos, demonstrations, web content, etc.
Resolve student/lab issues such as attendance and special situations

2.Management of the Systems Design Engineering lab course staff and teaching assistants:

Manage laboratory course teaching assistants and staff with regard to lab schedules and procedures
Train teaching assistants and staff in the proper usage of lab equipment and software
Participate in the selection of teaching assistants and in their performance evaluations
Assume an active leadership role in the mentorship and development of teaching assistants as well as with more junior staff members

3.Management of the Systems Design Engineering undergraduate teaching lab and workshop studio

Prepare and maintain lab experiments and equipment for scheduled lab times
Assist in the design, development and fabrication of complex laboratory experiments
Participate in keeping the labs and experiments current with new technology
Maintain the workshop design space in accordance with University health and safety standards
Propose and implement improvements to the functionality and use of workshop design space
Maintain current First Aid certification and act as first point of contact for incidents

4.Provide mentoring and technical support to students in Systems Design Engineering design-project and workshop courses:

Participate as a hardware and software technical consultant for students taking Systems Design workshop and project courses distributed throughout the entire undergraduate program
Participate as a supervisor/advisor for student design projects as time permits
Resolve problems of a technical nature
Ensure that safe practices are followed in the Systems Design workshop project lab
Demonstrate the proper use of workshop equipment and tools
Manage and track departmental funds used to supplement student design project costs
Design and participate in the fabrication of lab apparatuses/ equipment
Responsible for planning and procurement of supplies and equipment for the undergraduate lab

5.Other duties, but not limited to:

Participates in special projects (e.g. curriculum development, faculty-wide initiatives, special reports, etc.) as assigned by the Lab Director, Departmental Chair or Associate Undergraduate Chair.
The incumbent will occasionally be required to serve on committees pertaining to lab and workshop outcomes, departmental staffing, student experience reviews, and others as the need arises.

Position Requirements

Education:

Completion of a bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Electronics/Computer/Systems/Software or Mechatronics engineering technology (preferably from the University of Waterloo) including the successful completion of undergraduate courses spanning ”linear control systems”, “digital circuits”, and “analog circuits, instrumentation and measurement”, and having current knowledge in these areas
A graduate degree in a related discipline is highly preferred.
The successful applicant will be a registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario, or be eligible to become one.
WHMIS training is necessary and a current First-Aid certificate would be an asset.

Experience:

Must have fundamental knowledge of the core Systems Design Engineering lab course material including:
Solid knowledge of linear control systems including electro-mechanical system modelling, Laplace transforms, block diagram algebra, stability analysis, Bode and Nyquist plots, controller design techniques, state-space representations, sampling theorems, and other common linear system concepts
Solid knowledge of first principle electric circuit analysis using KVL, KCL, Thevenin and Norton, RLC circuits, filters, op-amps, A/D and D/A converters, and measurement theory
Demonstrable knowledge of number systems, digital circuits, gates, digital hardware, digital circuit simulation, digital circuit analysis
Must have experience and competency using scientific and lab software applications such as LabVIEW, Matlab, circuit simulators, and CAD.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office suite of programs.
Must have practical experience with and sound knowledge of sensors, actuators, hardware design and fabrication, software design, embedded systems, analog and digital circuit design, mechanical systems, and mechanical system fabrication
Must be able to work both with significant autonomy and as part of a team
Must have excellent and demonstrable oral and written communication skills, including strong technical documentation and presentation/ facilitation skills
Must be experienced with, or have the demeanour and desire to interact with students in a professional manner to provide technical advice and instructional material
Strong leadership and supervisory skills with the proven ability to mentor and develop staff.
Excellent interpersonal, analytical, research, organizational, and creative problem solving skills
Must have a strong sense of pedagogy and how it is applied to diverse and changing student group

Technical:

MS Word	Excel	PowerPoint	Other
word	excel	powerpoint	other

Nature and Scope

Interpersonal Skills:

Internally, frequent communication is required with staff, students, and faculty members in the department. In addition, the incumbent will occasionally present information to students with regard to labs and workshop courses. Externally, this position will occasionally require contact with vendors/suppliers/manufacturers for the purposes of purchasing and maintaining equipment.

Level of Responsibility:

The job has specialized work with some supervision and provides guidance to others.

Decision-Making Authority:

Physical and Sensory Demands:

Requires exertion of physical or sensory effort resulting in moderate fatigue, strain or risk of injury. Lab supervision requires long periods of standing. Some lifting and transporting of heavy and/or awkward equipment will be required.

Working Environment:

Involves moderate physical or psychological risk resulting from unavoidable exposure to hazardous, disagreeable or uncomfortable environmental conditions. In certain cases, the “lab instructor”, the teaching assistants, and the students may work with hazardous voltage levels and electro-mechanical apparatuses. Consequently, safety procedures must be strictly enforced. Incumbent will work within an open concept laboratory and work is subject to several interruptions.