ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR ELECTROCHEMICAL ENERGY (CEE), Material Processing Center, to manage research administration, financial analysis, sponsor relations, and outreach activities for a new research center established at MIT and sponsored by the Skolkovo Initiative’s Centers for Research and Education and Innovation (CREI) Program. Will assure compliance with SkolTech agreements, advise and provide direction to faculty and executive management, and function as primary resource for operational activity.  Duties include general administration and planning; analyzing and strategically planning for research funding projections and trends, pricing, and personnel allocations; proposing and implementing solutions to optimize resources and meet project goals; counseling PIs and project leaders on all aspects of research administration; cultivating relationships and communicating regularly with CEE director, faculty, and research administration officials; coordinating the preparation, review, and submission of technical reports; overseeing ongoing program activity requirements, ensuring compliance with strategic and technical/scientific program milestones and deliverables; organizing meetings, events, visits, and exchanges; supporting and leading the development of new external research interactions with industry; and additional responsibilities as requested.

Job Requirements

REQUIRED: B.S. in engineering or science and a minimum seven years’ experience in research administration (ideally in a university setting) or an M.S. and four years’ experience or a Ph.D. and two years’ experience in materials science and engineering, chemical engineering, physics, chemistry, or related discipline; excellent organizational, management, and interpersonal skills; ability to work independently and solve complex problems; strong financial skills; and proficiency with spreadsheets, databases, and computer systems/software.  Experience in project management, export controls, intellectual property, and technical marketing strongly desired.  MIT experience and knowledge of SAP, COEUS, Brio Query, COGNOS, and university general business practices preferred. Job #11023

Must be able to work a flexible schedule. 

I. Advanced lithium ion and multivalent ion batteries

• New Li electrode materials with higher capacities or lower cost
• New electrode materials for polyvalent ions (e.g. Mg2+)
• Low cost organic electrode materials
• Na intercalation electrode materials suspension based aqueous flow batteries
• Electrolyte and membrane development

II. Rechargeable metal-air batteries

• Fundamental studies oxygen reduction and evolution
• Design and synthesis of nanostructured electrodes
• Electrolyte and membrane development

III. Fuel and Electrolysis Cells

• SOFC/SOEC electrolyte and electrode materials with improved conductivity and catalytic activity
• PEMFC/PEMEC electrolyte membranes with improved conductivity/mechanical stability

Cross-cutting themes:

• Computational: simulation, materials and device design
• Advances in materials synthesis: crystalline, molecular, nano, micro
• Advances in characterization: in-situ atomic and molecular processes
• Prototyping

Materials design principles

• For materials and architectures with enhanced ORR/OER kinetics
• For computational design and control of the redox potentials of electrode materials
• For design of high-rate aqueous suspension-based flow cells

New materials

• New Li-ion electrodes with higher gravimetric energy (>20%) and cycle life
• Materials for reversible Mg intercalation for Mg-ion batteries
• High efficiency SOFC and SOEC electrodes
• Polymer membranes with lithium and proton transport
• Organic cathodes with specific energy comparable to Li-ion
• Suspension-based aqueous flow cathodes and anodes with 10-fold increased capacity (compared to flow cathodes)

Benchtop scale demonstrators

• Aqueous and nonaqueous metal-air batteries
• Aqueous suspension-based flow cell

• Novel microporous separators
  (porous PE films by a solid state manufacturing process)

• New Proton Conductive Composite Membranes
  (specially designed for redox systems)

• Prototyping:
  • Batteries with redox reactions of small molecules
  • Metal-free aqueous flow battery

Development of nanostructured electrodes: select  electrode materials and electrolytes that prevent side reactions

Basic studies of oxygen electrocatalysis using in situ/in operandi tools . (XPS, Synchrotron radiation, XANES, TEM etc.)

Integrate theoretical studies and first principles calculations