Research Intern, Audio Hardware (PhD)

Meta; Redmond; On-site; AUD 118,000 - 204,000; Full time

Job summary

Meta Reality Labs Audio invites PhD student interns to join a world-class team focused on wearable sensing and real-time signal processing for AR/VR audio experiences. You will prototype ultra-low-power biosignal hardware, collect and analyze data from human participants, and develop algorithms for on-device processing across multiple sensors.

The internship spans 12 to 24 weeks with multiple start dates, offering a competitive monthly compensation and benefits.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of independent research with publications and/or conference presentations.
• 2+ years experience with CAD, acoustic simulation tools or programming in MATLAB or Python.
• Must obtain work authorization in country of employment at the time of hire.
• Intent to return to full-time degree program after completion of the internship.

Responsibilities

• Design and prototype wearable biosignal hardware and integration.
• Build wearable data capture setups with human participants and assess signal quality across sessions.
• Design and implement real-time algorithms to process data from multiple sensors.
• Deliver demonstrations to research teams and cross-functional partners.
• Collaborate with researchers on proposals, timelines and milestones.
• Communicate research plans, progress, and results to stakeholders.

Skills

Independent research

CAD/Acoustic tools

Python or MATLAB

Communication & collaboration

Tools

MATLAB

Python

CAD tools

Job description

Summary:

The Meta Reality Labs Research Team brings together a world-class team of researchers, developers, and engineers to create the future of virtual and augmented reality, which together will become as universal and essential as smartphones and personal computers are today. Just as personal computers have done over the past 45 years, AR, VR and MR will ultimately change everything about how we work, play, and connect. We are developing all the technologies needed to enable breakthrough AR glasses and VR headsets, including optics and displays, computer vision, audio, graphics, brain-computer interfaces, haptic interaction, eye/hand/face/body tracking, perception science, and true telepresence. Some of those will advance much faster than others, but they all need to happen to enable AR, VR and MR that are so compelling that they become an integral part of our lives.In particular, the Meta Reality Labs Research Audio team is focused on two goals; creating virtual sounds that are perceptually indistinguishable from reality and redefining the human hearing. These two initiatives will allow us to connect people by allowing them to feel together despite being physically apart and allow them to converse in even the most difficult listening environments. The Devices and Hardware Research team of the Reality Labs Research Audio is looking for innovative PhD student interns interested in one or more of the following areas:

• Electrophysiological and bio-signal sensing technologies and the associated signal processing — EEG, EMG, EOG, ECG, PPG, EDA, and other wearable biopotential/physiological modalities, including electrode and front-end design, artifact rejection, and robust on-body signal quality.
• Extremely low-power, energy-autonomous wearable design — sub-milliwatt and duty-cycled sensing architectures, analog/mixed-signal front ends, event-driven and always-on wake-up circuits, and self-powered operation via energy harvesting.
• Embedded real-time signal processing on resource-constrained hardware — ANC, echo cancellation, hear-through, adaptive filtering, and efficient implementations on MCUs and DSPs.
• Hearing biomechanics characterized through experimentation and numerical simulation.
• Conventional and ML-based signal processing — feature extraction, classification, regression and event detection, sequence/temporal modeling, self-supervised and transfer learning for scarce physiological labels, subject-independent generalization and calibration, sensor fusion across modalities, and on-device/TinyML inference (quantization, pruning, distillation) under tight compute and energy budgets.

This internship can be twelve (12) to twenty-four (24) weeks, with various start dates throughout the year.

Required Skills:

Research Intern, Audio Hardware (PhD) Responsibilities:

1. Design and prototype novel wearable form factors and sensing hardware — electrode/transducer placement, mechanical and electrical integration, and ultra-low-power or self-powered architectures — for on-body biosignal acquisition
2. Build and run wearable data capture setups: instrument prototypes, define and execute data collection protocols with human participants, and assess signal quality, repeatability, and artifact robustness across sessions and users
3. Design and implement novel algorithms to collect and process, in real time, data from different sensors
4. Deliver proof-of-concept demonstrations of the developed technologies to a team of researchers and other XFN partners
5. Work closely with researchers on innovative project proposals, timelines, and milestones
6. Communicate research plans, progress, and results

Minimum Qualifications:

Minimum Qualifications:

1. 2+ years experience with independent research as evidenced by publications and/or conference presentations
2. 2+ years experience with computer aided design, acoustic simulation tools or programming languages such as MATLAB or Python
3. Must obtain work authorization in country of employment at the time of hire, and maintain ongoing work authorization during employment
4. Intent to return to full-time degree program after completion of the internship

Preferred Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications:

1. Proven track record of achieving significant results as demonstrated by grants, fellowships, patents, as well as first-authored publications at leading journals or conferences
2. Experience working and communicating cross functionally in a team environment
3. Intent to return to degree-program after the completion of the internship/co-op

Public Compensation:

$7,313/month to $12,667/month + benefits

Industry:

Internet

Equal Opportunity:

Meta is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Aff ... We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sexual stereotypes, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. Meta participates in the E-Verify program in certain locations, as required by law. Please note that Meta may leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in connection with applications for employment.

Meta is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities in our recruiting process. If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, please let us know at [e-mail].