Postdoctoral Scholar Position

A postdoctoral research scholar position is available in Dr. Syed Mubeen's research lab at the Iowa Technology Institute in the College of Engineering. The initial appointment is funded for one year from the date of hire with the possibility of reappointment contingent on performance and available funds.

Professor Syed Mubeen'sresearch interests are primarily in the electrochemical synthesis of functional nanomaterials, solar fuels, and chemicals, plasmon-based energy conversion systems, and energy-efficient water treatment systems.

For more info on Dr. Mubeen's lab, please visit the website: https://smubeen.lab.uiowa.edu/.

This position will focus on Tandem Nanowire Devices for Unassisted Solar Hydrogen Production

Scope of Work and Responsibilities

• Design and Fabrication
  
  
  • Grow and integrate nanowire photoanodes (e.g., CdSe in anodic alumina templates) and pair with highperformance photocathodes (e.g., pCdTe), optimizing tandem band alignment and series resistance.
  • Implement protective coatings and barrier layers and faulttolerant encapsulation to prevent electrolyte ingress and contact corrosion.
  • Engineer HER and OER catalysts with controlled morphology and adhesion on nanostructured surfaces.
  
  
• Characterization and Testing
  
  
  • Perform JV under AM 1.5G, IPCE/EQE, chopped illumination, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and gas quantification (GC or MS) for Faradaic efficiency and crossover.
  • Map spatial uniformity via light beam induced current (LBIC) or equivalent.
  • Conduct accelerated stress testing and postmortem analysis (SEM, TEM, XPS, Raman) to identify failure modes.
  
  
• Modeling and Data
  
  
  • Extract photovoltage and fill factor contributions from each subcell, quantify series/chargetransfer resistances, and build compact models to predict tandem performance.
  • Maintain a rigorous electronic lab notebook, data version control, and analysis scripts with clear provenance.
  
  
• Collaboration and Mentorship
  
  
  • Coordinate with internal thrusts on module encapsulation, QA/QC, and technoeconomic analysis.
  • Mentor undergraduate and graduate researchers on fabrication, safety, and data integrity.
  • Contribute to joint experiments with partner laboratories for largearea solar simulator testing and reliability studies.
  
  
• Dissemination and IP
  
  
  • Lead highimpact manuscripts and conference presentations.
  • Prepare invention disclosures when novel device architectures, processes, or encapsulation strategies are demonstrated.
  
  

Education Requirement: Ph.D. (or equivalent) in Chemical or Materials Science Engineering, Applied Mathematics/Statistics, or related fields.

Required Qualifications:

* Proven ability to work independently and experience in electrochemical engineering, semiconductor electrochemistry, catalysis, solar hydrogen production systems design and testing.

* Competence in using popular deep learning libraries and toolkits comfortably.

* Good communication and writing skills in English.

Desirable Qualifications:

Preference will be given to candidates with expertise on either of the following fields.

* Semiconductor photoelectrochemistry

* Electroplating