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

Type of Position: Researcher
Institution: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

About the Role

The Postdoctoral Fellow 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. This position is supported by the Arkansas Research Alliance and aims 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 work closely with Dr. Kaicong Wu, Arkansas Research Alliance Innovation Scholar and Assistant Professor of Architecture, contributing to regenerative design and construction through:

• 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.

Responsibilities

• Conduct interdisciplinary research in robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and materials innovation;
• Propose and develop research projects aligned with individual research trajectory and the group’s broader mission;
• 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;
• Collaborate with Dr. Wu, faculty, students, research groups, and external partners;
• Lead the production of 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;
• Participate in exhibitions, installations, design-build projects, and supportive teaching activities related to robotic fabrication, advanced digital technologies, and design-build education (optional, based on interest).

This is an in-person position located in the Department of Architecture at the Fayetteville campus. Regular, reliable attendance and engagement in supervisory and collaborative activities are essential.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Ph.D. in robotics, computer science, mechanical engineering, or a closely related field from an accredited institution, 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;
• Demonstrated capacity or strong potential to publish peer-reviewed scholarly work.

Preferred Qualifications

• 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;
• 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.

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.

Pay

$52,000.00 per year

Schedule

Expected start date: October 1, 2026. This is a full-time, regular, in-person position.