Sweet-APPS New Postdoc Positions
OPEN POSTDOC POSITION
Data Management, Integrated Analytics, and Machine Learning for Heterogeneous Agricultural Data
The EnBiSys Research Lab in the electrical and computer engineering department at North Carolina State University is seeking an enthusiastic postdoctoral research scholar to lead the development of a data management, integration, machine learning, and decision support platform for an interdisciplinary project whose vision is to minimize waste and maximize value for North Carolina sweetpotato producers, growers, and packers. This project is funded by the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative at North Carolina State University and involves faculty across 7 different departments and 3 different colleges. The project also includes a partnership with SAS, Inc., creating excellent opportunities for networking outside of academia. A successful candidate will thrive in an interdisciplinary environment and will assist with the development of a secure data management, integration, and analytics platform that will extract relationships across heterogeneous agricultural data acquired across the sweetpotato supply chain (e.g. imaging, cultural practices, weather, and soil chemistry) and use these relationships to formulate management strategies for resolving inconsistencies in produce quality, improving outcomes, and increasing produce value. This platform will provide a visual dashboard where stakeholders can perform analytics, query and visualize the results, and use the results for decision support
The EnBiSys Research Lab is an interdisciplinary group that uses methodologies familiar to other areas of electrical and computer engineering (e.g. computational intelligence, system identification, nonlinear systems analysis and control, and signal processing) to model and predict the impact that genetic and environmental perturbations have on overall plant response (e.g. biomass, cellulose content, and plant cell wall strength). Our lab enables training and development opportunities for post-doctoral researchers and provides opportunities for mentoring students, giving presentations, lecturing, and writing grant proposals and manuscripts. Our lab is part of a broader effort to make NC State University a world leader in the plant sciences, accelerating discovery and utilizing interdisciplinary team-based science to solve agricultural challenges in the 21st century. North Carolina State University is in Raleigh, NC, with access to the Research Triangle Park and within 26 miles of the University of North Carolina and Duke University. Raleigh is often ranked at the top of "Best of" lists due to its low cost of living, outdoor activities, and access to technology businesses. Learn more about the project here, and see a recent press release describing the project here.
QUALIFICATIONS: Qualified applicants for this position will have a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, computer science, data sciences, statistics, or some related field. Ideal candidates will have expertise in computer vision and machine learning and have demonstrated contributions to these areas through publications, presentations, and other forms of scholarship. All candidate should 1) be proficient in spoken and written English, 2) be able to work independently and lead interdisciplinary groups of people, and 3) be hard-working, motivated, and eager to engage in opportunities to learn.
TO APPLY: Please email applications (including cover letter, curriculum vitae, & names and email address of three professional references) to Dr. Cranos Williams (cmwilli5@ncsu.edu). The position is available starting as early as October 2020 for an initial appointment of one year, renewable contingent upon satisfactory performance. Salary starts at $55,000 / year but can increase commensurate with experience. Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until position is filled.