University of Arizona · 3 months ago
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Tucson, AZ
Full-time
Onsite
Senior LevelThe University of Arizona is seeking a qualified and highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Associate to work with Dr. Ehsan Azimi in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. The role involves advancing research in robotics and AI/ML, designing and implementing robotic systems, and mentoring students while contributing to publications and grant proposals.
EducationHigher EducationNon ProfitUniversities
Responsibilities
Lead, design, build and test cycles for robotic platforms and experimental rigs; develop real-time control (e.g., model-based, optimal, learning-augmented control), perception, and planning modules; run structured experiments and benchmarking
Architect high-quality research codebases in C++/Python/C# (e.g., ROS/ROS 2, RT frameworks, Unity/Unreal integration as needed); implement data pipelines, simulation, and CI/testing; maintain reproductible artifacts and documentation
Mentor undergraduate and graduate students; develop short course modules and/or run workshops in Robotics/AI/Control; support inclusive team culture and lab best practices
Lead and co-author journal/conference papers; prepare manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals; create compelling presentations/demos and contribute to IP (invention disclosures and patents); present research at national and international conferences
Contribute to proposal development and grant writing (including preliminary data, methods, budgets text); prepare progress reports, and coordination with internal/external collaborators; interface with sponsors where applicable
Foster collaborations within the Department, with other units across the University, and with team members at other institutes
Participate and contribute to meetings with industry, academia and sponsors
Additional duties as assigned
Qualification
Required
PhD in Robotics, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, or closely related field
Must have PhD conferred upon hire
Strong analysis skills, research, and technical writing skills
Ability to communicate professionally in a clear, concise manner orally and in writing
Knowledge of prototyping, specifically control (PID, MPC, optimal/robust, learning-augmented); perception & planning; sensor fusion; calibration; system identification
Programming skills, including C++, Python, C#; ROS/ROS 2; Git; Linux; build systems (CMake); real-time/latency-aware coding; simulation (Gazebo/Isaac/Unity/Unreal as applicable)
Knowledge of experimental design, statistics, ablation studies, replicable pipelines, technical writing
Ability to create clear presentations and use strong interpersonal skills with a collaborative mindset; effective mentoring
Preferred
Hands-on experience integrating hardware + software for robots (arms, mobile, mechatronics) and real-time control
Experience in computer vision, multimodal perception, or foundation models (VLMs/LLMs) applied to robotics
Track record of patent contributions and/or technology transfer
Experience preparing grants (NSF/NIH/DoD/industry) and coordinating collaborative deliverables
Prior experience mentoring/teaching, curriculum or workshop development
Experience with safety standards for robotics labs and human–robot interaction studies
Experience with CUDA/accelerators; optimization; SLAM; tactile/force control; AR/XR interfaces; Unity/C# for robotics visualization; DevOps/containers
Experience with AI/ML: Deep learning for vision/perception; VLMs and LLM tooling; dataset curation; evaluation/benchmarks; basic MLOps
Benefits
Health, dental, vision, and life insurance
Paid vacation
Sick leave
Holidays
UA/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members
Access to UA recreation and cultural activities
And more!
Company
University of Arizona
University of Arizona is a public research university that offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and professional degree courses.
Founded in 1885
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
University of Arizona has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (138)
2024 (119)
2023 (146)
2022 (135)
2021 (146)
2020 (93)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$88.9MKey Investors
US Department of EnergyGoogle.orgNational Science Foundation
2024-12-10Grant· $0.61M
2024-06-04Grant· $1M
2023-09-07Grant· $30M
Leadership Team
Chad Herzog
Associate Vice President, Arizona Arts
Lanita Collette
Acting CIO, Deputy CIO
Recent News
Arizona Daily Star
2025-12-14
Arizona Daily Star
2025-12-09
Government Technology US
2025-12-09
Company data provided by crunchbase