Assistant Research Scientist (PREP0004173) Part-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: Multi-Sensor Time Synchronization

US Citizen Preferred

The work will entail:

• Designing, constructing, and documenting a hardware system for generating simultaneous time synchronization signals for multiple sensor systems.
• Generating and transmitting signals that will be leveraged to temporally align multiple streams of data during human subject trials.
• Developing hardware and software to facilitate the generation and transmission of multiple signal formats.
• Displaying relevant timing information.
• Taking human inputs to trigger the generation and transmission of synchronization signals.
• End-of-project deliverables will include a hardware prototype, and a final report documenting the development and testing of the system.

Key responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

• Getting up to speed with current systems and sensor inputs.
• Designing multiple options for time synchronization.
• Building selected design.
• Designing trials to test prototype.
• Iterating on design to refine process.
• Presenting intermediate results at lab meetings and a final wrap-up presentation.
• Ensuring that results, protocols, software, and documentation have been reviewed by the lab team and archived for future access.

Qualifications:

• Pursuing a major in Computer Science, Engineering, Manufacturing, or a related field.
• Familiarity with electronics and sensors, prototyping.
• Some software background would be helpful but not essential.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.