The Computational Sensing team at MERL is seeking motivated and qualified individuals to design sensing mechanisms and develop algorithms that perform high quality image and video reconstruction from a single pixel detector. The project goal is to improve the performance and develop robust methods that can reduce the number of snapshots required for image formation. Ideal candidates should be Ph.D. students and have solid background and publication record in any of the following, or related areas: compressed sensing, imaging inverse problems, large-scale optimization, plug-and-play priors, learning-based modeling for imaging, learning theory for computational imaging. Publication of the results produced during our internships is expected. The duration of the internships is anticipated to be 3-6 months. Start date is flexible.

The Signal Processing (SP) group at MERL is seeking a highly motivated intern to conduct fundamental research in THz (Terahertz) sensing. Expertise in statistical inference, unsupervised anomaly detection, and deep learning (spatial-temporal representation learning) is required. Previous hands-on experience in THz data analysis is a plus. Familiarity with python and deep learning libraries is a must. The intern will collaborate with a small group of MERL researchers to develop novel algorithms, design experiments with collaborators, and prepare results for patents and publication. The expected duration of the internship is 3 months with a flexible start date.

MERL is seeking a highly motivated and qualified individual to conduct research in model-based mechatronic system design. The ideal candidate should have solid backgrounds in motor and drives, multi-body dynamics, design optimization, and coding skills. Demonstrated experience on hand-on mechatronic system integration, and simulation/optimization software such as Matlab is a necessity. Ph.D. students in mechanical engineering, robotics, and electrical engineering are encouraged to apply. Start date for this internship is flexible and the duration is about 3 months.

MERL is seeking a highly motivated and qualified intern to collaborate with multiple researchers on the implementation and experimental validation of algorithms for path/motion planning, optimal control and reference tracking in autonomous articulated vehicles. The ideal candidate has a background in either path planning or model predictive control (MPC) for autonomous (articulated) vehicles, and the candidate should be familiar with optimal control, vehicle dynamics, A* search, Matlab and Simulink, and C/C++ code generation. Any experience with dSPACE (e.g., MicroAutoBox or Scalexio) is a plus. MS or PhD students in control, robotics, electrical and mechanical, or related areas, are encouraged to apply. Start date for this internship is as soon as possible, and the expected duration is about 3-6 months.

MERL is looking for a highly motivated individual to work on safe control of data-driven, uncertain, dynamical systems. The research will develop novel optimization and learning-based control algorithms to guarantee safety and performance in various industrial applications, including autonomous driving. The ideal candidate should have experience in either one or multiple of the following topics: optimal control under uncertainty, (robust and stochastic) model predictive control, (convex and non-convex) optimization, and (reinforcement and statistical) learning. Ph.D. students in engineering or mathematics with a focus on control, optimization, and learning are encouraged to apply. A successful internship will result in submission of relevant results to peer-reviewed conference proceedings and journals, and development of well-documented (Python/MATLAB) code for MERL. The expected duration of the internship is 3-6 months, and the start date is Summer 2022.

MERL is seeking a highly motivated and qualified intern to collaborate with the Control for Autonomy team in developing estimation methods with applications to multi-vehicle positioning. The ideal candidate is a PhD candidate with strong emphasis in estimation and control, and as interest and background in several of: bayesian inference, machine learning, maximum-likelihood estimation, optimization, distributed systems, and vehicle modeling and control. Good programming skills in MATLAB, Python, or C/C++ are required. The expected start of of the internship is in 2022 and flexible for a duration of 3-6 months.

MERL is seeking a highly motivated and qualified intern to collaborate with the Control for Autonomy team in research on planning and control for autonomous vehicles. The research domain includes algorithms for path planning, vehicle control, high level decision making, sensor-based navigation, driver-vehicle interaction. The ideal candidate is expected to be working towards a PhD with strong emphasis in vehicle guidance and control, and to have interest and background in as many as possible of: vehicle dynamics modeling and control, predictive control algorithms linear and nonlinear systems, motion planning, convex, non-convex, and mixed -integer optimization, statistical estimation, cooperative control. Good programming skills in MATLAB, Python or C/C++ are required, knowledge of rapid prototyping systems, automatic code generation or ROS is a plus. The expected start of of the internship is in the late Spring/Early Summer 2022, for a duration of 3-6 months.

MERL is seeking a highly motivated and qualified intern to collaborate with the Control for Autonomy team in research on planning and control algorithms accounting for perception of the uncertain surrounding environment. The ideal candidate is expected to be working towards a PhD with strong emphasis in control or planning algorithms, and to have interest and background in as many as possible of: predictive control algorithms for linear and nonlinear systems, stochastic constrained control, e.g., chance constraints, stochastic optimization, statistical estimation, perception system modeling, and vehicle modeling and control. Good programming skills in MATLAB, Python or C/C++ are required. The expected start of of the internship is in the late Spring/Early Summer 2022, for a duration of 3-6 months.

MERL is looking for a highly motivated individual to work on tailored computational algorithms and applications of mixed-integer programming for decision making, motion planning and control of hybrid systems. The research will involve the study and development of numerical optimization techniques and/or the implementation and validation of algorithms for industrial applications, e.g., related to autonomous driving and robotics. The ideal candidate should have experience in either one or multiple of the following topics: branch-and-bound type methods, heuristics for mixed-integer programming (pre-solve, cutting planes, warm starting, integer-feasible solutions), modeling and formulation of MIPs for hybrid control systems, convex and non-convex optimization, machine learning and real-time optimization. PhD students in engineering or mathematics, especially with a focus on mixed-integer programming or numerical optimization, are encouraged to apply. Publication of relevant results in conference proceedings and journals is expected. Capability of implementing the designs and algorithms in MATLAB/Python is expected; coding parts of the algorithms in C/C++ is a plus. The expected duration of the internship is 3-6 months and the start date is flexible.

MERL is looking for a highly motivated and qualified candidate to work on data-driven, sample-efficient optimization with real-world applications in building energy systems. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding machine learning or sampling-based optimization with expertise demonstrated via, e.g., publications, in at least one of: few-shot optimization, Bayesian methods, and/or learning for control/estimation of buildings and energy systems. Hands-on programming experience with standard ML toolkits such as PyTorch/Tensorflow is preferred; knowledge of additional, relevant tools (e.g., GPyTorch, Pyro) is a plus. PhD students are preferred, as an expected outcome of the internship is a publication in a high-tier venue. The minimum duration of the internship is 12 weeks; start time is flexible. This internship is preferred to be onsite at MERL, but may be done remotely where you live if the COVID pandemic makes it necessary.

MERL is looking for a highly motivated and qualified candidate to work on modeling for smart sustainable buildings. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of modeling renewable energy sources, grid-interactive buildings, occupant behavior, and dynamical systems with expertise demonstrated via, e.g., peer-reviewed publications. Hands-on programming experience with Modelica is preferred. The minimum duration of the internship is 12 weeks; start time is flexible. This internship is preferred to be onsite at MERL, but may be done remotely where you live if the COVID pandemic makes it necessary.

The Data Analytics Group at MERL is seeking a highly motivated, qualified individual to join our internship program in the summer of 2022. The ideal candidate will be a Ph.D. student specializing in fluid dynamics, with solid background in turbulence modeling and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Research exposure to one of the following is very desirable but not necessary: PDE-constrained optimization, model reduction techniques, and Physics-informed Neural Nets (PINNs). Ideal candidate is familiar with open-source CFD solvers such as OpenFOAM or SU2. Publication of results obtained during the internship is expected. The starting date is flexible and the internship will last about 12 weeks.

MERL is seeking a highly motivated and qualified intern to join the Signal Processing Group for a three month internship program. The ideal candidate will be expected to carry out research on network design and optimization methods including AI assisted networking. The candidate is expected to develop innovative network configuration technologies to support emerging IoT applications. The candidates should have knowledge of network technologies such as network slicing, software defined networking and/or semantic networking. Knowledge of the communication technologies such as 3GPP-5G or IEEE 802 WLAN/WPAN standards is a plus. Candidates in their junior or senior years of a Ph.D. program are encouraged to apply.