About this role
Applications will be accepted through December 15, 2026 . Interested candidates are encouraged to apply early, as application review may begin before the closing date. To ensure full consideration, please submit a complete application by the posted deadline.
This position requires eligibility to access controlled unclassified information (CUI) and export controlled data. Candidates must meet applicable federal requirements, including U.S. person status where required.
Location
This role is onsite in Danville, VA.
Position Funding
This position is initially funded through a two-year grant through the AM2 initiative. IALR is committed to the long-term sustainability of this work. The successful candidate will be an important technical contributor to that effort, helping build industry relationships, identify opportunities, and develop applied projects that create value, supported by IALR's organizational infrastructure and broader partner ecosystem.
The Pay, Perks, & Benefits
Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience and determined based on market benchmarks and internal equity. Benefits include:
- Salary: $130,000 - $145,000
- Virginia Retirement System (VRS) retirement benefits with employer match
- Vacation, paid sick leave, and paid family leave after one year
- Anthem PPO and HSA medical plans with excellent dental options
What You Will Do
IALR is seeking an experienced advanced manufacturing professional to serve as an IALR employee working in close partnership with Virginia Tech, helping bridge applied research, industry, workforce development, and real-world manufacturing.
This regionally focused role is funded through the AM2 initiative, and its primary purpose is to advance the objectives and commitments of that grant. Based at the AM2 Tech Hub Manufacturing Studio at IALR in Danville, this position will bring strong applied manufacturing expertise into the Manufacturing Studio, connect academic and industry capabilities, and help translate technology into practical solutions that advance manufacturing throughout the region. As part of this work, the position will serve as a key bridge between IALR and the Virginia Tech MADE Center in Blacksburg, in an environment where faculty, engineers, machinists, technicians, students, and industry partners work together on production-relevant challenges.
Responsibilities will include:
- Serve as an IALR employee and the primary on-site technical presence at the Manufacturing Studio, working in close partnership with Virginia Tech and fostering collaboration among students, faculty, technicians, researchers, and industry partners.
- Lead and support applied research and process-maturation projects in advanced and additive manufacturing.
- Help transition emerging manufacturing technologies from research environments to practical, production-relevant applications.
- Address manufacturability, qualification, process reliability, and scale-up challenges.
- Support advanced additive manufacturing technologies, including directed-energy deposition, powder-bed fusion, additive friction stir, robotic additive manufacturing, and related processes.
- Mentor undergraduate and graduate students participating in hands-on engineering and manufacturing projects.
- Coordinate technical activities between Danville and Blacksburg, including experimental trials and rapid-response technical support.
- Collaborate with industry and workforce development partners on real-world manufacturing challenges, and help build industry relationships and identify opportunities for applied projects, with the support of IALR's organizational infrastructure and partner network.
- Advance the objectives and commitments of the AM2 initiative and contribute to the continued growth of advanced manufacturing throughout the region.
How You Will Help the Team
This is an applied, industry-facing role that connects research to production, students to hands-on learning, and industry challenges to practical engineering solutions. The real value of a Professor of Practice is the ability to bring practical industry knowledge into an academic and applied technology environment, connecting those two worlds rather than operating within only one of them.
You will bring technical depth and hands-on industry perspective to multidisciplinary teams, helping partners determine not only whether a manufacturing technology works, but how it can be scaled, qualified, and successfully applied in a production environment. You will work comfortably with everyone from university researchers and engineers to machinists, technicians, and manufacturing leadership.
You will also help develop the next generation of engineers and advanced manufacturing professionals through mentorship, applied learning, and exposure to real-world manufacturing challenges.
Qualifications
Your Knowledge and Expertise
Meaningful industry experience is one of the most critical qualifications for this role. We are seeking someone who:
- Understands manufacturing from the practical side and has dealt with real production challenges.
- Knows what it takes to move technology from concept into application.
- Brings practical industry knowledge into an academic and applied technology environment, rather than operating primarily within a research setting.
- Has extensive industrial experience, which is valued as highly as, and may outweigh, advanced academic credentials.
Required Qualifications
- Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science, Industrial Engineering, or a closely related field.
- At least six years of progressively responsible relevant experience in advanced manufacturing, additive manufacturing, applied engineering research, manufacturing engineering, or a closely related field, including meaningful hands-on industry experience in a production or manufacturing environment.
- Demonstrated technical expertise in advanced or additive manufacturing.
- Experience applying engineering principles in an industrial, production-relevant, research, or applied manufacturing environment.
- Experience leading complex technical projects or initiatives.
- Ability to work collaboratively and comfortably with university researchers, engineers, students, machinists, technicians, manufacturing leadership, and other stakeholders.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Demonstrated ability to mentor, teach, or develop others.
Preferred Qualifications
- Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Materials Science, or a closely related discipline (preferred, but not required; extensive industry experience is highly valued).
- Experience with large-scale metal additive manufacturing technologies such as DED, WAAM, friction stir, robotic additive manufacturing, or powder-bed fusion.
- Extensive experience in industrial or production manufacturing settings, including aerospace or other highly regulated manufacturing environments.
- Experience with manufacturing process qualification, certification, reliability, or production scale-up.
- Experience coordinating multi-partner or multi-site technical programs.
- Familiarity with digital manufacturing, sensing, controls, automation, or process-monitoring systems.
- Previous experience mentoring undergraduate or graduate engineering students.
- Experience working at the intersection of industry, applied research, and workforce development.
What Makes Working Here Different
This position offers an opportunity to work where advanced manufacturing research meets real-world application . Rather than focusing exclusively on academic research or traditional classroom instruction, you will work directly with researchers, students, engineers, technicians, and industry partners to solve practical manufacturing challenges.
The Manufacturing Studio provides an environment where new processes can be tested, refined, scaled, and moved closer to industrial implementation. As an IALR employee working in close partnership with Virginia Tech, your work can directly contribute to advanced manufacturing capabilities and growth throughout the region.
Equal Opportunity Employer. We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.