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A postdoctoral research associate position is available in Dr. Yuzhen Lu’s group (AgFood Sensing & Intelligence) in the Department of Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering (https://www.canr.msu.edu/bae/) at Michigan State University (Top 100 Globally, Public Ivy, the first Land-Grant University and AAU member in the U.S., Top 15 in Agriculture globally). The selected candidate will work primarily on harvest automation for specialty crops. This position will be an initial 12-month opportunity with the possibility of an extension. It may start in December of 2024 or on a later agreed-upon starting date of 2025.

The successful candidate is expected to assist with leading efforts in leveraging advanced machine vision, and artificial intelligence (AI)/robotics technologies to develop automated, selective harvesting systems for specialty crops and to generate high-quality peer-reviewed publications. The postdoc will meet regularly with Dr. Yuzhen Lu to discuss best practices in design, experiments, prototyping, algorithm development and testing, manuscript preparation, and mentoring. The selected candidate may also engage in activities such as grant proposal development and class teaching assistance as needed for their professional development. Successful candidates need to be creative, self-motivated, adaptive, and dedicated, collaborate in multidisciplinary environments, and communicate research outcomes actively through journal publications and deliver presentations at conferences.

Minimum Requirements

• The successful candidate must have a PhD degree in Biosystems/Agricultural Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or closely related fields.
• Successful candidates are expected to have demonstrated experience evidenced in publication records in machine/computer vision, mechatronics, and or AI/robotics.
• Strong computer programming skills are necessary in C++, Python, and or Matlab.
• The candidate is expected to have excellent scientific writing and communication skills.

Desired Qualifications

• Skills in real-time machine vision, hardware prototyping, and system integration are desirable.
• Experience in developing a machine vision-based automation system for vegetable harvesting is an advantage.