Description
 
KU is seeking a highly motivated Research Associate/ Research Engineer to work on a funded project to investigate and develop control strategies, tools and applications for a swarm of underwater autonomous agents.

The project is focused in developing a studying a wide range of solutions for collaborative operation and localization of a swarm of underwater robots. In particular we are interested in studying decentralized types of control and emerging swarm behavior. Applications of visual recognition and image analysis techniques and non-traditional sensing and communication methods will be central in the research scope.

Position Requirements

• Support in develop, implement and test new algorithms and control schemes for swarms of autonomous underwater platforms.
• Develop custom visual based method for robot localization, in an underwater environment. Familiarity in using neural network and training will be required.   The candidate will handle computation and setting with computation clusters.
• Research novel control strategies, based on visual output, electric sense, environmental input and extremely limited communication for obtaining applicable swarm behavior.
• Implementation of said control strategies on existing platforms and validation through experimental testing.
• Prior experiences working with microprocessor platforms (Raspberry and similar), and Robotic platforms.
• Solid skills in python programming. Familiar with Ubuntu and ROS systems.
• Prior experiences working with underwater robots or vehicles.
• Comfortable to operate in marine environment.
• Adhere to the University's information security and confidentiality policies and procedures, and report breaches or other security risks accordingly
• Perform any other tasks assigned by the Line Manager

Qualifications

Candidate Profile

Essential Criteria

• Masters from a reputable university in Automation, Robotics or related discipline
• Experience of undertaking assigned research tasks and starting to manage own workload
• Contributing to scientific papers and academic journal articles where possible acting as lead/ corresponding author
• A willingness to contribute to a collaborative and supportive team culture
• Excellent English language communication skills (verbal and written)
• Ability to function as part of a team working on multiple tasks with competing demands and deadlines
• Well-developed reasoning and problem-solving skills

Desired Criteria

• Masters gained from and/or experience working in a top 200 QS or THE ranked University
• At least 2 year of increasingly accountable relevant experience as a researcher in academia or in industry
• At least 1 lead author publication in a Q1 journal in the relevant field
• Experience contributing to high impact publications in top 10% journals in the relevant field

Should you require further assistance or if you face any issue with the online application, please feel to contact the Recruitment Team (recruitmentteam@ku.ac.ae).

Primary Location: KUK – Khalifa University
Job: Research Associate
Schedule: Regular
Shift: Standard
Job Type: Full-time