Assistant Research Scientist (PREP0003710) Full-time

Assistant Research Scientist

This position is part of the National Institute of Standards (NIST) Professional Research Experience (PREP) program. NIST recognizes that its research staff may wish to collaborate with researchers at academic institutions on specific projects of mutual interest, thus requires that such institutions must be the recipient of a PREP award. The PREP program requires staff from a wide range of backgrounds to work on scientific research in many areas. Employees in this position will perform technical work that underpins the scientific research of the collaboration.

Research title: Measuring energy-related needs of AI systems

The work will entail:

• Surveying existing or possible measurement methods for AI systems' needs for energy and related resources, and identifying directions for future work.
• Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
• Desk research to understand and organize the literature on the energy-related needs of AI systems.
• Planning and drafting a landscape survey laying out methodological options in measuring energy needs and usage.
• Consulting with experts in the field to inform the report.
• Soliciting and incorporating community input on drafts of the report.
• Supporting NIST in considering what follow-ups, such as developing new measurement methodologies or proposing standardization activities, might be appropriate.

Qualifications:

• Broad awareness with computer architecture and data center operations.
• Familiarity with typical computational processes involved in modern machine learning systems (e.g., matrix multiplications).
• Hands-on experience measuring energy usage of AI systems, OR detailed knowledge of academic and/or industry research and reporting on AI systems' energy usage, ideally including needs for related resources such as water.
• Strong oral and written communication skills, including both envisioning structure and content for nascent documents and line editing mature documents for technical precision and readability.