Automation Engineer

Working Title: Automation Engineer

About the Department

The Self-driving Platforms for Expedited Experimental co-Design (SPEED) Programmable Cloud Laboratory is a $20 million National Science Foundation-funded national research infrastructure led by NC State University. Located in Woodson Hall, SPEED will provide academic, government, and industry researchers with remote access to integrated self-driving laboratories for accelerated discovery and development of advanced functional materials and molecules. SPEED brings together expertise in laboratory automation, artificial intelligence, experimental science, data engineering, cybersecurity, and workforce development. The facility will operate a suite of autonomous experimental platforms through a shared digital infrastructure, enabling users to design, execute, monitor, and analyze experiments remotely. SPEED is supported by collaborators at NC State, UNC–Chapel Hill, MIT, industry partners, and an initial national network of academic users.

Responsibilities

• Build and Integrate Laboratory Automation
  • Design and implement automated workflows for synthesis, materials processing, sample preparation, testing, and characterization.
  • Integrate robots, liquid handlers, pumps, valves, reactors, instruments, sensors, and other laboratory equipment.
  • Translate scientific protocols into robust, executable workflows with defined operating limits and error handling.
  • Develop reusable device drivers and equipment interfaces for SPEED’s automation platform.
  • Commission and validate new robotic systems, workcells, and scientific instruments.
• Develop Control Software and Interfaces
  • Develop and maintain Python software for device control, workflow execution, monitoring, and diagnostics.
  • Connect laboratory equipment to SPEED’s scheduling, orchestration, data, and user-access systems.
  • Implement reliable communications using APIs, Python libraries, TCP/IP, OPC UA, REST, serial, digital I/O, and other protocols.
  • Establish consistent device states, commands, metadata, and error handling across varied equipment.
  • Use version control, testing, and code review to deliver dependable automation software.
  • Develop simulation or digital-twin capabilities to test workflows before running them on physical equipment.
• Improve Reliability and Performance
  • Monitor automated systems and troubleshoot robotics, motion control, fluid handling, sensors, instruments, software, and network issues.
  • Develop preventive maintenance, calibration, readiness checks, and recovery procedures.
  • Analyze failures and implement improvements that increase uptime, repeatability, and ease of recovery.
  • Work with manufacturers and vendors to resolve technical issues and support critical systems.
  • Maintain clear documentation of configurations, dependencies, maintenance, and known failure modes.
• Build Safe, Usable Systems
  • Design automation with appropriate interlocks, alarms, safe states, emergency stops, and shutdown logic.
  • Conduct hazard and failure-mode reviews for robotic, fluidic, thermal, pressure, gas-handling, and unattended operations.
  • Create system documentation, operating procedures, troubleshooting guides, and maintenance instructions.
  • Train researchers, operators, students, and technical staff to use automated platforms safely and effectively.
  • Help establish engineering standards and platform designs that enable automation to scale across SPEED and partner facilities.
• Other Responsibilities
  • Other tasks and responsibilities may be assigned based on the needs of the organization and evolving priorities.

Requirements

• Minimum Education and Experience
  • Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mechatronics, robotics, controls engineering, computer engineering, or a related field.
  • Three or more years of relevant experience developing, integrating, or maintaining automated equipment, robotics, process-control systems, or scientific instrumentation.
• Other Required Qualifications
  • Demonstrated programming experience in Python or a comparable language used for hardware control and automation.
  • Experience interfacing software with physical equipment through APIs, communication protocols, programmable controllers, data-acquisition systems, or instrument drivers.
  • Experience troubleshooting integrated electromechanical, fluidic, robotic, or process-control systems.
  • Ability to read and develop technical documentation such as process diagrams, wiring diagrams, control narratives, interface specifications, and operating procedures.
  • Understanding of safe equipment operation, interlocks, alarms, emergency stops, and failure recovery.
  • Strong analytical, documentation, collaboration, and problem-solving skills.
  • Ability to work primarily on site in laboratory environments and occasionally respond outside normal business hours to critical equipment issues.
• Preferred Qualifications
  • Master’s degree in engineering, robotics, automation, controls, or a related discipline.
  • Experience automating chemical synthesis, materials processing, high-throughput experimentation, or analytical characterization.
  • Experience with robotic arms, laboratory liquid handlers, automated reactors, pumps, valves, autosamplers, plate readers, chromatography, spectroscopy, or diffraction instruments.
  • Experience with industrial or laboratory communication standards such as OPC UA, Modbus, REST APIs, serial protocols, message queues, or programmable logic controllers.
  • Experience developing equipment abstraction layers, orchestration software, state machines, or event-driven automation systems.
  • Familiarity with Git, automated testing, containerized applications, Linux systems, databases, and networked laboratory equipment.
  • Experience with machine vision, digital twins, simulation, path planning, or robotic workcell design.
  • Familiarity with chemical compatibility, pressure systems, compressed gases, hazardous materials, and laboratory safety requirements.

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, and Vision
• Flexible Spending Account
• Retirement Programs
• Disability Plans
• Life Insurance
• Accident Plan
• Paid Time Off and Other Leave Programs
• 12 Holidays Each Year
• Tuition and Academic Assistance
• Childcare benefits
• Wellness & Recreation Membership
• Wellness Programs

Pay

$100,000 - $110,000

Schedule

Monday - Friday, 8 am - 5 pm (additional work outside of standard hours may be required due to business needs)