Hardware Machine Learning PhD Research Internship

IMC; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 30,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Paid leave

Insurance benefits

Job summary

A leading trading technology firm in Chicago is looking for a PhD Research Intern in Hardware Machine Learning. This internship involves architecting an ML focused research project and collaborating with hardware engineers in a high-performance environment. Candidates should be enrolled in a PhD program and possess a solid understanding of hardware constraints, machine learning fundamentals, and proficiency in Python. The role offers a unique opportunity to work in cutting-edge hardware development and machine learning applications.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a PhD in a relevant field.
• Strong understanding of hardware design trade-offs.
• Experience with machine learning frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Architect and develop an ML focused research project.
• Work with hardware engineers to implement ML solutions.
• Evaluate emerging research for measurable improvements.
• Present project findings to the team.
• Gain hardware design fundamentals from RTL developers.

Skills

PhD program enrollment in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics

Understanding of hardware constraints

Experience with VHDL/SystemVerilog development

Knowledge of machine learning fundamentals

Proficiency in Python

Strong communication skills

Education

Currently enrolled in a PhD program

Tools

HLS tools

ML-to-hardware frameworks like hls4ml

PyTorch

TensorFlow

Job description

Hardware Machine Learning PhD Research Internship

Chicago, United States

We are deploying machine learning directly onto custom hardware – and we want you to help drive it forward. This PhD internship is an opportunity to work on research that has direct impact on IMC's work tackling open problems at the frontier of low‑latency ML inference and hardware acceleration.

You'll work alongside IMC engineers in one of the most demanding low‑latency computing environments in the world. You'll own a focused research project from start to finish, present your findings to the team, and leave behind a prototype or benchmark that we can build on.

Your Core Responsibilities

• Architect and develop an ML focused research project based on a real‑world trading environment
• Work hands‑on with hardware engineers to implement, verify, and deploy ML inference solutions
• Track and evaluate emerging research in neural architecture search, machine learning systems and quantization methods, and determine what translates to measurable improvements in our systems
• Present your project to the team, deepening our collective understanding of an area of ML acceleration
• Gain hardware design fundamentals from skilled RTL developers and learn how they apply to our industry
• Build skills to evaluate research not only from an academic perspective, but through real‑world performance constraints, engineering costs, and industry impact

Your Skills and Experience

• Currently enrolled in a PhD program in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related field
• Solid understanding of hardware constraints and design trade‑offs (e.g., pipelining, resource utilization, fixed‑point arithmetic) that shape how ML models can be efficiently mapped onto FPGAs or custom ASICs
• Experience with hardware fundamentals, whether through VHDL/SystemVerilog development, HLS tools, or ML‑to‑hardware frameworks like hls4ml, FINN, or Vitis AI
• Understanding of machine learning fundamentals – neural network architectures, inference optimization, quantization techniques, ML frameworks such as PyTorch/TensorFlow
• Proficiency in Python or similar languages for tooling, testing, and simulation
• Strong communication skills and ability to work collaboratively across disciplines with both technical and non‑technical teams

The Base Salary range for the role is included below. Base salary is only one component of total compensation; all full‑time, permanent positions are eligible for a discretionary bonus and benefits, including paid leave and insurance. Please visit Benefits - US | IMC Trading for more comprehensive information.

IMC is an equal opportunity employer. IMC prohibits discrimination of any type and affords equal employment opportunities to applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, national origin, age, disability, military or veteran status, status as a victim of domestic violence, and/or any other categories protected by applicable federal, state or local law. Completion of this section is voluntary and will not affect your opportunity for employment or the terms or conditions of your employment. The data collected from these questions will be stored separately from your individual application and will be kept confidential.