Post Doctoral Fellow Researcher - Robotics, Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Innovation- 12 MONTH

University of Arkansas • Fayetteville, AR

10d • Onsite

About The Position

The Postdoctoral Fellow Research in Robotics, Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Innovation will join an interdisciplinary research group working at the intersection of robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and materials innovation. The researcher will work closely with Dr. Kaicong Wu, Arkansas Research Alliance Innovation Scholar and Assistant Professor of Architecture in Design Studio and Advanced Digital Technologies in Department of Architecture at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. The position is supported by the Arkansas Research Alliance and is intended to advance high-impact research addressing state and national priorities in sustainable material systems, advanced manufacturing, automation in construction, and workforce development. The successful candidate will contribute to the research team addressing regenerative design and construction through the integration of: Reversible timber construction; Wood by-product composites; Adaptive robotic fabrication and advanced manufacturing; Human–robot collaboration in construction; and Multimodal foundation models and AI-enabled agentic systems. The postdoctoral researcher will join the Department of Architecture to contribute to establishing its research culture, technical infrastructure, external partnerships, and scholarly profile. This is an in-person position, not a remote position. Extensive in-person engagement in both supervisory activities and formal and informal interactions with colleagues contributes to successful leadership, coordination, and collaboration and is essential to the expectations for the position. Regular, reliable, and non-disruptive attendance is an essential job duty, as is the ability to create and maintain collegial, harmonious working relationships with others.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in robotics, computer science, mechanical engineering, or a closely related field from an accredited institution of higher education, conferred by the start of employment
• Demonstrated research experience in one or more of the following areas: robotics and autonomous systems; advanced manufacturing or robotic fabrication; automation in construction; human–robot collaboration; computer vision, sensing, or perception; artificial intelligence, deep learning, or foundation models; additive manufacturing; material innovation or computational materials research
• Strong programming, computational, experimental, or robotic systems-development skills
• Evidence of the ability to conduct independent and collaborative research
• A demonstrated capacity or strong potential to publish peer-reviewed scholarly work

Nice To Haves

• Experience in architecture, industrial design, computational design, or another design discipline
• Experience with robotics applications in architecture, engineering, and construction
• Experience with timber construction, reversible building systems, or design for disassembly
• Experience with wood-based composites, bio-based materials, or circular material systems
• Experience with industrial robotic arms, linear tracks, end-effectors, extrusion systems, or robotic additive manufacturing (3D printing)
• Experience with robot operating systems (ROS), motion planning, computer vision, multimodal AI, or foundation-model-enabled agentic systems
• Experience with physical prototyping and experimental fabrication
• Experience conducting interdisciplinary research involving design, engineering, computation, and material science
• Experience preparing research proposals or contributing to externally funded projects
• Experience translating research into industry collaboration, intellectual property, or commercialization

Responsibilities

• Conduct interdisciplinary research in robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and materials innovation
• Have substantial agency to propose and develop research projects aligned with their individual research trajectory and the broader mission of the group
• Develop and implement foundation-model-enabled robotic fabrication, assembly, disassembly, perception, and human–robot collaboration workflows
• Contribute to experimental research involving timber construction systems, wood by-product composites, additive manufacturing, and reversible/circular construction
• Work closely with Dr. Wu and collaborating faculty, students, research groups, and external partners
• Take a leading role in producing high-quality scholarship, including peer-reviewed journal articles and competitive conference papers
• Document research methods, prototypes, experimental results, datasets, and workflows
• Contribute to the preparation of external research proposals and collaborative grant applications
• Support the translation of research into demonstrators, intellectual property, commercialization opportunities, and job-creating innovation
• Depending on the appointee’s interests and professional goals, opportunities may also include participation in exhibitions, installations, design-build projects, and supportive teaching activities related to robotic fabrication, advanced digital technologies, and design-build education

Benefits

• University contributions to health, dental, life and disability insurance
• Tuition waivers for employees and their families
• 12 official holidays
• Immediate leave accrual
• Choice of retirement programs with university contributions ranging from 5 to 10% of employee salary

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree