Autonomous Systems Research Engineer – Trajectory & Control

University of Texas at Austin; United States; On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Texas at Austin’s Oden Institute seeks a Research Engineer to lead design and development of information-aware trajectory planning and control for autonomous aircraft, contributing to the CyPhER Forge program and broader robotics research.

You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, validate algorithms through simulation and hardware, publish findings at conferences, and help meet program milestones on a fixed-term basis through Oct 31, 2027.

Qualifications

• The PhD in Aerospace Engineering, Control Systems, Robotics, Computer Science, or related field is required or equivalent industry experience.
• Strong background in control, trajectory optimization, and machine learning.
• Experience with aircraft dynamics, flight control systems, and autonomous vehicle control.
• Experience developing large software projects (>10,000 lines of code) in Python/C++ or similar.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Develop trajectory planning algorithms for autonomous aircraft that optimize information gathering while respecting dynamics and safety.
• Design robust control strategies bridging models to multiphysics phenomena.
• Integrate trajectory planning with control design for model discovery and uncertainty reduction.
• Develop and maintain large-scale software systems for autonomous systems research.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to validate algorithms via simulation and hardware.
• Publish research findings and present at technical conferences.
• Contribute to program milestones and DARPA CyPhER Forge deliverables.

Skills

Control theory

Trajectory optimization

Machine learning

Aircraft dynamics

Flight control

Autonomous vehicle control

Python

C++

Education

PhD in relevant field

Tools

ROS

Job description

The University of Texas at Austin’s Oden Institute seeks a Research Engineer to lead design and development of information-aware trajectory planning and control for autonomous aircraft, contributing to the CyPhER Forge program and broader robotics research.

You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, validate algorithms through simulation and hardware, publish findings at conferences, and help meet program milestones on a fixed-term basis through Oct 31, 2027.