Visiting Scholar

Position:             Visiting Scholar
Location:            Kitchener, Ontario
Job Type:            1-3 Year Contract. Sabbaticals welcome.
Experience:        5+ Years of Relevant Experience
Education:         Ph.D in Computer Science, Engineer, or Equivalent

About OTTO Motors by Rockwell Automation    

OTTO by Rockwell Automation is a global leader in autonomous technology for material handling inside manufacturing and warehouse facilities. With over five million hours of production experience, OTTO autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are trusted in mission-critical operations for some of the world’s most recognized brands. OTTO by Rockwell Automation was recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Robotics Companies of 2023. For more information, visit ottomotors.com. 

OTTO by Rockwell Automation was acquired by Rockwell Automation in 2023.  Rockwell is a global industrial automation and digital transformation technology leader focused on helping the world’s manufacturers be more productive, sustainable, and agile. With more than 28,000 employees who make the world better every day, we know we have something special. Behind our customers – amazing companies that help feed the world, provide life-saving medicine on a global scale, and focus on clean water and green mobility – our people are energized problem solvers that take pride in how the work we do changes the world for the better.    

About the job

As OTTO’s first ‘Visiting Scholar’, you will help us explore how we can accelerate and scale up not only our own R&D efforts, but also the R&D efforts of the field in general. You will be responsible for working with our existing team as well as the global robotics community – both academia and open-source. You are a well published expert in one or more fields of navigation, planning, perception, mapping, deep learning, reinforcement learning, or generative AI. You are very experienced with R&D which is theory-heavy but has practical applications. This role offers a unique opportunity to conduct R&D, transition it to products used in the real world every single day, and publish within a very short timeline. If you have a passion for seeing your theoretical work make a difference in the real world, we encourage you to apply. 

Your primary responsibilities will be:  

• Conducting direct R&D in your area of interest 
• Technical collaboration with and mentorship of R&D contributors 
• Working as ‘internal PI’ with academic institutions, including technology transfer, dataset development and sharing, and joint publications 
• Ensuring that OTTO Motors is well represented as a technology leader in your area of interest, including patents, publications, open-source contributions, and public presentations 
• Understanding and communicating of technologies and developments in your area of interest which may be applicable to autonomous mobile robotics, including past work and future trends 

Required Experience/Skills: 

• Ph.D in Computer Science, Engineering, Applied Physics, Mathematics, or equivalent 
• Substantial experience independently carrying out R&D as a postdoc, professor, or equivalent, including within a larger organization such as a corporate lab or academic institute 
• Broad familiarity with navigation, planning, perception, mapping, deep learning, reinforcement learning, generative AI, and similar topics as applicable to autonomous robots 
• Broad familiarity with key hardware technologies and modalities covering sensing, computation, communication, and actuation 
• Specific familiarity with one or more of the above fields, with multiple papers published in notable journals or conferences 
• Familiarity with software development and testing methodologies and tools 
• Experience presenting and representing your work or organization in public 
• Hands-on experience with developing and deploying software for physical robots 
• Strong experience with C++, Python, and ideally more languages (Lua, Rust, etc) 
• Strong experience with key libraries such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Ceres, or OMPL 
• Reasonable experience with ROS1, ROS 2, Gazebo, CUDA, and ideally more frameworks 
• Highly proficient with experimental analysis and benchmarking 

At OTTO Motors by Rockwell Automation, we are committed to building and supporting a culture of diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. We hire the best talent regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, age, veteran status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and expression. If you require special accommodation to complete any portion of the application or interview process, please contact 1-800-301-3863.