Associate Researcher, Design and Manufacturing

Autodesk•Toronto, ON

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The work we do at Autodesk touches nearly every person on the planet. By creating software tools for making buildings, machines, and even the latest movies, we influence and empower some of the most creative people in the world to solve problems that matter. As an Associate Researcher, Design and Manufacturing on the Industry Futures team at Autodesk Research, you will be doing applied research that bridges the digital and physical worlds. Our team works at the intersection of manufacturing and AEC, imagining how AI-driven physical processes could reshape the way things are made -- and getting our hands dirty to test those ideas through real-world experimentation. In this role, you will design and execute physical experiments in manufacturing settings, build data pipelines from sensor and equipment data, and develop and deploy machine learning models on edge devices in factory environments. You will work hands-on with manufacturing equipment, instrumentation, and embedded systems while applying rigorous computer science and data science methodology. This role is ideal for someone early in their career who has a strong foundation in computer science and a genuine passion for manufacturing and the physical world. This role will report to a Research Manager on the Industry Futures team. Given the physical experimentation component of the work, you will be expected to work on-site at Autodesk's Toronto office 4x/week. This is a 1 year contract position.

Requirements

Recently completed a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field
Hands-on experience with Python and at least one ML framework (PyTorch, TensorFlow, or scikit-learn)
Comfort working with hardware, sensors, and physical experimental setups -- not just software
Basic understanding of data acquisition from physical systems (e.g., sensors, cameras, serial protocols, APIs)
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with an ability to work through ambiguity
Excellent written communication skills to document experiments, code, and findings
Willingness to work in manufacturing or lab environments (not exclusively remote desk work)

Nice To Haves

Experience deploying ML models on edge or embedded devices (NVIDIA Jetson, Coral, microcontrollers, or similar)
Familiarity with manufacturing processes (CNC machining, additive manufacturing, injection molding, robotics, assembly, or quality inspection)
Experience with computer vision (object detection, defect classification, pose estimation)
Knowledge of IoT protocols and frameworks (MQTT, OPC-UA, ROS)
Experience with cloud services and architectures (AWS, Azure) for data storage and model training
Coursework, projects, or internships involving physical experimentation, lab instrumentation, or hardware-software integration
Knowledge of the design, manufacturing, AEC, or media and entertainment industries
Experience with Autodesk products (Fusion, AutoCAD, Inventor, or similar)

Responsibilities

Design, instrument, and execute physical experiments in manufacturing environments to generate structured, high-quality datasets
Develop data acquisition and processing pipelines for sensor data, machine telemetry, images, and other physical-world signals
Train, optimize, and deploy machine learning models on edge computing platforms (e.g., NVIDIA Jetson, Raspberry Pi, industrial PLCs) in manufacturing settings
Collaborate with manufacturing partners and internal research teams to identify high-impact problems and translate them into well-scoped experiments
Analyze experimental results and communicate findings to researchers, engineers, and leadership through clear visualizations and written reports
Contribute to the development of research prototypes that demonstrate new AI-driven manufacturing capabilities
Stay current with advances in edge AI, IoT, manufacturing informatics, and applied ML
Write robust, testable code that is well documented and easy to understand