The Department of Sustainable Biomaterials (SBIO) at Virginia Tech invites applications for an Assistant Professor in Medical and Pharmaceutical Packaging. This is a 9-month, tenure-track faculty position with 65% research, 30% teaching, and 5% service responsibilities. The department’s Packaging Systems and Design degree, ranked #5 in the United States, focuses on developing future leaders in development and use of sustainable packaging materials. Virginia Tech is committed to fostering a welcoming and supportive environment where all people can succeed and thrive.

The successful candidate will be expected to establish and maintain a distinguished, well-funded research program at the cutting edge of medical and pharmaceutical packaging. Areas of focus may include sterile medical device packaging, pharmaceutical delivery systems, active packaging for shelf-life extension, smart health packaging, combination products, digital traceability, tamper-evident packaging, and packaging manufactured from sustainable materials. The successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to secure external research funding - both through partnerships with packaging manufacturers and suppliers, and through collaborative grant proposals aimed at advancing biomedical technologies, supported by agencies such as the NIH, NSF, DoD, as well as foundations and industry partners.

The candidate must display teaching excellence through innovative teaching methods. Teaching responsibilities will include one undergraduate, and one graduate course related to medical and pharmaceutical packaging.

As a world leader in polymers, biomedical research, and health sciences, Virginia Tech has state of the art facilities that support the design, development, testing, and optimization of packaging for medical devices, pharmaceutical products, and drug delivery systems. This position will enhance interdisciplinary collaborations across the university, including with the Department of Food Science, Carilion School of Medicine, Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Veterinary Medicine, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program on Infectious Diseases, and the Institute for Critical Technologies and Applied Sciences (ICTAS).

The successful candidate will be expected to collaborate effectively with colleagues within the department, within other units at Virginia Tech, and with partners from other universities, regulatory agencies, and industry, both domestically and internationally. In addition, the candidate is expected to serve on departmental, college, and university committees.

1. PhD degree in Packaging Science, Material Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Microbiology, Health Science, Chemistry, or other relevant engineering or science fields.
2. Ability to develop and teach university-level lectures and laboratories.
3. Ability to secure research funding to support an active program and graduate students.

1. Expertise in sterilization methods and materials, specifically ISO 11607; Packaging for terminally sterilized medical devices and EN 868-1; Packaging Materials and systems for medical devices which are to be sterilized.
2. Industrial and/or research experience in medical and/or pharmaceutical packaging.
3. Experience with packaging science used for medical devices, pharmaceutical products, drug delivery systems, and any goods used in the healthcare industry.
4. Demonstrated ability to collaborate with faculty, private industry, and federal agencies.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Angie Riegel at ariegel@vt.edu or phone (540) 231-7107, during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.