Senior Academic Technologist, Innovation Center

Position Summary:

The Senior Academic Technologist for the Innovation Center is an experienced, collaborative, and inventive leader who shapes an interdisciplinary, experimental, and hands-on teaching and learning environment. This role brings together students, faculty, and staff to explore how emerging technologies—from robotics and digital fabrication to AI, AR/VR, and motion capture—can transform learning, research, and creative practice across the liberal arts. The position advances the College's commitment to intellectual curiosity and flexibility; aesthetic and analytical discernment; disciplinary practice; creativity and communication; and engaged citizenship.

The Senior Academic Technologist leads the daily operations, safety, instruction, and programming for the Innovation Center's makerspace and advanced technology studios, including facilities for laser cutting, woodworking, metalworking, 3D printing, robotics, motion capture, and immersive media. This role is central to enabling hands-on, team-based, and socially intelligent innovation experiences that prepare Hamilton students to lead and design in a rapidly evolving, technology-driven world. This in-person, front-facing role reports to the Director of Academic Technology, Teaching, and Research Services.

Artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, robotics, and immersive technologies are reshaping every field of study. Hamilton's Innovation Center positions the College at the forefront of preparing liberal arts students—not just as technologists, but as thinkers, designers, and leaders across all disciplines—to engage these tools critically, creatively, and collaboratively. The Senior Academic Technologist will play a defining role in bringing this vision to life.

Responsibilities:

Makerspace and Studio Management

• Manage and serve as the primary lead in the day-to-day operation of the Innovation Center Makerspace and related studios, including fabrication labs, robotics areas, and motion capture / AR/VR facilities, with strategic support from LITS colleagues.
• Maintain, troubleshoot, and oversee safe use of equipment such as laser cutters, CNC tools, woodworking and metalworking machinery, 3D printers, robotics platforms, and emerging prototyping technologies.
• Develop, implement, and enforce comprehensive safety protocols and training programs for all equipment and creative spaces.
• Oversee inventory, supplies, tool maintenance, and vendor relationships related to makerspace and emerging technology operations.

Instruction, Training, and Academic Collaboration

• Provide hands-on instruction and training for students, faculty, and staff in the use of makerspace tools, robotics, immersive technologies, and interactive media.
• Collaborate with faculty across disciplines to support course-based projects, research, arts practice, and creative work that leverage the Innovation Center's facilities.
• Support design thinking, rapid prototyping, and iterative experimentation as core pedagogical approaches within a liberal arts context, emphasizing both artistic and technical creativity.
• Translate complex technologies into accessible, inclusive learning experiences that foster creativity, problem-solving, and ethical engagement.

Student Workforce Leadership

• Recruit, train, supervise, and mentor a team of student employees who support makerspace operations, peer instruction, and user assistance, including the possibility of student Innovation Fellows.
• Foster a collaborative, welcoming, and inclusive culture within the Innovation Center that values teamwork, curiosity, and shared responsibility.
• Develop student leadership pathways that build technical fluency, artistic and creative practice, communication skills, and social intelligence.

Programming and Innovation Ecosystem

• In collaboration with Instructional Designers and Research Librarians, and LITS colleagues—including the Program Manager for Innovation Programs & Partnerships—design and support workshops, open labs, demonstrations, and interdisciplinary events that promote creative and artistic use of makerspace, interactive media, and emerging technologies.
• Partner with campus units, including LITS colleagues—libraries and academic technology, entrepreneurship initiatives, and research programs, to integrate Innovation Center resources into broader institutional goals.
• Stay current with trends in emerging technologies, maker education, robotics, and experiential learning, and recommend new tools or practices aligned with Hamilton's mission.

Strategic Development and Assessment

• Contribute to the ongoing development of the Innovation Center's vision, policies, and long-term planning.
• Collect and analyze data related to space usage, learning outcomes, and project impact to inform continuous improvement.
• Coordinate budget planning and expense management for the Innovation Center in partnership with the Director of Academic Technology, Teaching, & Research Services.
• Coordinate with Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) on projects that intersect with administrative systems or institutional platforms, engaging EIS as advisors to ensure alignment, security, and operational integration.
• Support campus conversations around responsible innovation, including the intersection of technology, ethics, sustainability, and human-centered design.
• Assumes other duties as required or assigned.

Education & Experience:

Required:

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree or equivalent professional experience preferred.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience with makerspace technologies, including laser cutting, CNC router, woodworking, metalworking, 3D printing, and robotics.
• Experience developing and enforcing safety protocols in fabrication or lab environments.
• Experience instructing or training users in an inclusive technical environment.
• Experience designing or facilitating experiential learning, hands-on workshops, or technology-enhanced learning experiences for students and/or faculty.
• Commitment to inclusive pedagogy, team-based learning, and liberal arts values.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience working in a higher education makerspace, innovation lab, fabrication shop, or similar environment.
• Familiarity with AR/VR, motion capture, immersive media, or emerging experiential technologies.
• Experience supervising and mentoring student employees.
• Interest in the ethical, social, and cultural dimensions of technology and innovation.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Ability to build and maintain partnerships across campus.
• Ability to foster an inclusive, equitable, and accessible learning community.
• Strong communication, collaboration, and organizational skills.
• Knowledge of current trends in innovation and emerging technologies, and their applications in the arts and liberal arts disciplines.
• Knowledge and familiarity with design thinking, project management, and technology-driven creative practices.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to assess project needs, ask relevant questions, and match users with appropriate tools, methods, and resources.
• Basic teaching, training, or facilitation skills with learners of varying technical and artistic experience.
• Ability to communicate clearly and collaborate effectively in oral and written formats.
• Organizational skills, attention to detail, and time management sufficient to handle multiple responsibilities.
• Ability to work independently and prioritize tasks for self and others in a dynamic environment.
• Adaptability, flexibility, and willingness to engage in ongoing professional learning.
• Professional demeanor and service orientation when interacting with students, faculty, staff, and the public.
• Knowledge of design thinking methodologies and interdisciplinary project-based learning.