Robotics Engineer / Scientist

Hong Kong Quantum AI Lab Ltd; Hong Kong; On-site; HKD 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Hong Kong Quantum AI Lab is assembling the team for a Physical AI for Science venture, a joint effort with The University of Hong Kong and Caltech to build self-driving laboratories where AI agents design workflows and robots execute experiments.

You will integrate autonomous systems into laboratories and work on two complementary profiles: teaching robots new skills through perception, imitation and reinforcement learning, or making robotic systems reliable and production-ready.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience building or working with robotic systems.
• Evidence of exceptional engineering or research ability.
• Learning agility and adaptability in fast-paced projects.
• Candidates graduating by July 2027 are welcome to apply.

Responsibilities

• Build robotic systems capable of performing scientific laboratory tasks reliably and repeatedly.
• Develop manipulation capabilities for laboratory objects such as vials, pipettes, powders, plates, containers and scientific instruments.
• Build perception and control systems that operate in messy real-world laboratory environments.
• Work closely with scientists to convert laboratory procedures into robotic skills.
• Develop and/or fine-tune VLA and other robot foundation models for laboratory tasks.
• Build data collection and demonstration pipelines for new robotic skills.
• Apply imitation learning, reinforcement learning and other learning-based approaches where they outperform conventional automation.
• Develop perception and manipulation policies that generalise across objects, instruments and experimental tasks.
• Evaluate new embodied-AI research and translate useful advances into working robotic systems.

Skills

Hands-on robotics experience

Learning agility

Entrepreneurial temperament

Evidence of exceptional engineering or

Robot systems integration

Education

Degree in robotics, CS, EE, ME or related field

Job description

Hong Kong Quantum AI Lab (HKQAI) is assembling the team for a Physical AI for Science venture.

HKQAI is an R&D centre jointly established by The University of Hong Kong and the California Institute of Technology, with research spanning quantum chemistry, artificial intelligence and robotics.

We are building self-driving laboratories, in which AI agents design workflows, simulation platforms evaluate candidates, robots execute experiments, and every result feeds back into the next cycle.

About the role

You will integrate autonomous systems into laboratories.

We are hiring robotics engineers across two complementary profiles:

Engineers who teach robots new laboratory skills through perception, imitation learning, reinforcement learning and VLA models.

Engineers who make robotic laboratory systems reliable, integrated and production-ready.

You do not need to be an expert in both

We are looking for someone with

• A degree in robotics, CS, EE, ME or a related field from a top institution (candidates graduating by July 2027 are also welcome to apply)
• Evidence of exceptional engineering or research ability
• Hands-on experience building or working with robotic systems
• Learning agility
• Entrepreneurial temperament is a plus

Key responsibilities

Across the team

• Build robotic systems capable of performing scientific laboratory tasks reliably and repeatedly
• Develop manipulation capabilities for laboratory objects such as vials, pipettes, powders, plates, containers and scientific instruments
• Build perception and control systems that operate in messy real-world laboratory environments
• Work closely with scientists to convert laboratory procedures into robotic skills
• Develop and/or fine-tune VLA and other robot foundation models for laboratory tasks
• Build data collection and demonstration pipelines for new robotic skills
• Apply imitation learning, reinforcement learning and other learning-based approaches where they outperform conventional automation
• Develop perception and manipulation policies that generalise across objects, instruments and experimental tasks
• Evaluate new embodied-AI research and translate useful advances into working robotic systems

Robotics Systems track

• Integrate robot arms, grippers, dexterous hands, cameras, sensors, liquid/powder handling equipment and scientific instruments
• Develop hardware/software interfaces and orchestration
• Design calibration, error recovery, monitoring and safety systems
• Improve cycle time, reliability and unattended operating time
• Build modular robotic workcells that can support new experiments and instruments

What we offer

• Multidisciplinary environment to work alongside researchers across AI, chemistry, materials science and robotics
• Compensation commensurate with capabilities and experience, with flexibility for outstanding candidates
• Exceptional candidates will be offered a founding role, your decisions will shape the venture