Research Associate: High Power Medium Voltage Power Electronics for Grid Applications - UTK

University of Tennessee Athletic Marketing Department
University of Tennessee Athletic Marketing Department

IT

Knoxville, TN, USA

USD 55k-75k / year

Posted on Jul 28, 2026

The Center for Electric Power within the Tickle College of Engineering is seeking a Research Associate. This position will lead a team of graduate students working on sponsored research projects in high power medium voltage power electronics for grid applications. The person will partner with other researchers and faculty by coordinating tasks and projects. Reporting to the project PI, the role independently conducts experiments and reports on the progress of projects, including analysis, simulation, experiments, reporting, and publications. This position is expected to generate research ideas and contribute to research proposals.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has shaped leaders, changemakers, and innovative thinkers since its founding in 1794. The university is home to more than 38,000 students and 10,000 statewide employees—the Volunteers—who uphold the university’s tradition of lighting the way for others through leadership and service.

UT Knoxville offers over 900 programs of study across 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. As Tennessee’s flagship land-grant university, its footprint spans the entire state. The university holds the highest Carnegie classification for research activity and has deep partnerships with industry leaders and the US Department of Energy’s largest multidisciplinary laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

The Knoxville campus serves and recruits for UT Knoxville, including the Institute of Agriculture and the Space Institute, as well as the UT Institute of Public Service.

UT Knoxville considers its employees its number one asset. With values that focus on work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership, all Vols are supported to advance professionally. Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and an extensive list of development and training possibilities. The Volunteer employee experience implements structures and practices to attract and retain top-tier talent, fostering a strong staff community and supporting a culture of involvement and engagement for everyone.

The university holds a strong commitment to its land-grant mission of learning and engagement, with a tradition of service and leadership that carries that Volunteer spirit throughout the state and around the world. It has been ranked nationally as “Best Employer for New Graduates,” “One of America’s Best Large Employers,” and “Best Workplace for Women,” and has been designated as “Best Place for Working Parents” by Forbes Magazine.

Apply today and join the Tennessee Volunteer community!
This position will lead a team of graduate students working on sponsored research projects in high power medium voltage power electronics for grid applications. The person will partner with other researchers and faculty by coordinating tasks and projects. Reporting to the project PI, the role independently conducts experiments and reports on the progress of projects, including analysis, simulation, experiments, reporting, and publications. This position is expected to generate research ideas and contribute to research proposals.

Required Qualifications

  • Education: PhD in electrical engineering

  • Experience: Two years of experience in power electronics research.

  • Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

    • Excellent skills in high-power high-voltage power electronics design and lab testing

    • Skillful in PCB design and testing

    • Skillful in DSP and FPGA coding

    • Skillful in MATLAB and PSCAD simulation

    • Demonstrated ability to provide oral and written presentations and clearly illustrate research results

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience: Four years or more of experience in power electronics research

  • Knowledge, Skills, Abilities: knowledge on cooling and mechanical system design or operation

Work Location

  • Location: Knoxville, Tennessee

  • Onsite, Hybrid, or Remote – Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

  • UT market range: MR09

  • Anticipated hiring range: $55,000 - $75,000

  • Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here

  • Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments:

  • Resume

  • Cover Letter

About The College

The Tickle College of Engineering (TCE) is in the midst of an unprecedented period of growth and success, including adding over 30 new faculty to the college as part of ambitious hiring campaigns led by Chancellor Donde Plowman and Dean Matthew Mench. The college has set records in research expenditures, enrollment, incoming student GPA, diversity, intellectual property development, and USNWR rank in the past three years. New facilities include the state-of-the art Zeanah Engineering Complex, the University of Tennessee Manufacturing and Design Enterprise (TN-MADE) facility, and the Innovation South building now under construction that will house UTK’s Fibers and Composites Manufacturing Facility (FCMF).

EECS at UTK has 49 full-time T/TT faculty members, three members of the National Academy of Engineering, 15 IEEE Fellows, 13 NSF/DOE CAREER awardees, and 15 ranked in World’s Top 2% Scientists as compiled by Stanford. The department has a growing enrollment of more than 1000 undergraduate and 450 graduate students across the three majors of Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science. In addition, the department offers undergraduate minors in computer science, cybersecurity, datacenter technology and management, and machine learning. Successful faculty candidates will be expected to contribute to the continued growth and excellence of EECS.

The position will lead the development of a power electronics based high power (> 1 MW) medium voltage (up to 13.8 kV) universal power tester needed for testing power equipment developed in sponsored projects. The responsibilities include:

  1. design, build and test the tester software and hardware to achieve the required performance;

  2. user guideline development and documentation for the tester;

  3. the software and hardware interface development of the universal power tester with the load or source under test;

  4. providing tasks to the graduates students and coordinating with faculty on the research project to conduct the system testing.

The position will periodically update and report to the PI as well as will write reports and provide them to sponsors. The role also includes writing and co-writing proposals and research publications as needed.

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