Convergent search in computer vision/perception for robotics

The College of Engineering (CoE) at Boston University (BU) has embarked upon a bold new strategic plan that will pursue excellence and impact along multiple convergent research themes. As part of the Intelligent, Autonomous and Secure Systems theme, the CoE at BU is conducting a cross-cutting search for tenure-track faculty candidates at the Assistant Professor level whose research interests align with one or more of the following areas:

1) Hardware and algorithm co-design for vision: research that directly targets the interplay between the requirements of vision algorithms and hardware resources. This includes both hardware needs that arise from computational demands (including, but not limited to novel architectures for low-power, low-latency, high-throughput processing) and the algorithmic needs that arise from robotic hardware (including, but not limited to perception in embedded autonomous vehicles that operate on the ground, on and under water, and in the air or in space, or perception for soft robots).

2) Computer vision for interaction with the real world: research that uses novel approaches to bridge the gap between perceiving the world and interacting with it (including, but not limited to foundation models for vision, language or actions or their multimodal combinations, 3-D vision for robotics, biologically-inspired frameworks, sensing and simulation tools, control and reinforcement learning from vision including safety, manipulation and grasping).

The candidate will have a primary appointment in either the Mechanical Engineering (ME) or Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department depending on their interests. Cross- cutting research interests leading to secondary appointments in other Engineering departments, Computer Science, the Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences, and the Division of Systems Engineering are encouraged. Affiliations with the Center for Information and Systems Engineering (CISE), the Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science and Engineering, and the Robotics & Autonomous Systems Teaching and Innovation Center (RASTIC) would be anticipated.

We are looking for outstanding candidates with a Ph.D. in a relevant area who demonstrate potential for leading an independent and vibrant funded research program, teach effectively at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and utilize their expertise to strengthen collaborative research across departments within the college and beyond.

Boston University is an AAU institution with a rich tradition dedicated to inclusion and social justice. We are proud that we were the first American university to award a PhD to a woman and that Martin Luther King Jr. received his PhD here. We are dedicated to increasing the participation of all talented students and are committed to the pursuit of engineering by underrepresented groups at BU and beyond. Our university community welcomes differences, encourages open-minded exploration, and upholds freedom of expression.

For more information about BU CoE, please visit: http://www.bu.edu/coe/

We encourage candidates to apply early. Applications received by November 15, 2024 will be given full consideration.

Applications can be submitted at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/28226 

BU conducts a background check on all final candidates for certain faculty and staff positions. The background check includes contacting the final candidate’s current and previous employer(s) to ask whether, in the last seven years, there has been a substantiated finding of misconduct violating that employer’s applicable sexual misconduct policies. To implement this process, the University requires a final candidate to complete and sign the form entitled “Authorization to Release Information” after execution of an offer letter. 

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.