Postdoctoral Researcher: Hardware Acceleration for Trustworthy Edge AI

Los Alamos National Security LLC; Los Alamos (NM); On-site; USD 85,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Job summary

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) seeks a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance FPGA/HLS-based hardware accelerators for trustworthy, resource-efficient AI at the edge. You will benchmark against baselines and contribute to hardware-software co-design for autonomous systems under tight latency/power constraints.

You will join an interdisciplinary team to enable reliable autonomous decision-making for national security applications, with opportunities for conference travel, publications,

Qualifications

• PhD or nearly completed in EE/CE/CS or related field with recent completion (within 5 years).
• Hands-on FPGA design flows and RTL or HLS experience required.
• Experience with digital hardware/accelerator architecture design and implementation.
• Proficiency in C/C++ and at least one hardware description or HLS language.
• Experience integrating accelerators with software/embedded stacks.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and evaluate FPGA/HLS-based accelerators for real-time AI tasks.
• Benchmark hardware against software/hardware baselines for latency and accuracy.
• Contribute to hardware-software co-design methodologies for edge AI in autonomous systems.
• Collaborate with AI/ML researchers and computer engineers on multimodal autonomy testbeds.

Skills

FPGA design flows

RTL Verilog/VHDL

High-level synthesis

C/C++ proficiency

Hardware-software co-design

multidisciplinary teamwork

Education

PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or closely related field

Tools

Verilog/VHDL

Vitis HLS

Vivado

Job description

What You Will Do

The CAI-3 group within the Computing and Artificial Intelligence Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is seeking a Postdoctoral Research Associate to advance hardware architectures that support trustworthy, resource-efficient AI at the edge. You will design, implement, and evaluate FPGA/HLS-based hardware accelerators for computations that support real-time confidence estimation, fault and anomaly detection, and robust decision-making in autonomous systems operating under strict latency, power, and reliability constraints. You will explore hardware-software co-design methodologies that bring statistical and machine learning reasoning closer to the sensing and computing hardware. Your work will include benchmarking prototype hardware against existing software and hardware baselines for latency, resource utilization, and numerical accuracy. You will contribute to closed-loop evaluation on a multimodal autonomy testbed under degraded or GPS-denied sensing conditions. The successful candidate will join an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers developing creative solutions to enable reliable autonomous decision-making for national security applications at LANL. We will provide opportunities to support your growth as a research scientist, including conference travel, manuscript publication, networking, service, and mentorship opportunities.

CAI-3 (Information Sciences) develops methods and tools for understanding complex interactions and extracting actionable information from massive data streams, from novel deep learning architectures to algorithms that exploit revolutionary hardware such as quantum and neuromorphic circuitry. This position sits at the intersection of two CAI-3 teams: Novel Computing, which develops custom coprocessors (ASICs, FPGAs, VHDL) to accelerate critical computations for LANL's mission, and Mission Integrative Computer Science, which bridges FPGA design, signal processing, and hardware-software co-design to deliver custom hardware systems for NNSA Defense Programs and Global Security applications. You will work alongside researchers in AI/ML, uncertainty quantification, and computer engineering on hardware approaches that support confidence-aware AI reasoning.

You will work alongside researchers in AI/ML, uncertainty quantification, and computer engineering on hardware approaches that support confidence-aware AI reasoning.

What You Need

Minimum Job Requirements

• PhD in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, or closely related field, completed within the last 5 years (or requirements completed and degree pending)
• Hands-on experience with FPGA design flows, RTL (Verilog/VHDL) and/or high-level synthesis (Vitis HLS, Vivado, or similar)
• Experience with digital hardware/accelerator architecture design and implementation
• Proficiency in C/C++ and at least one hardware description or HLS language
• Experience integrating custom hardware accelerators with a software or embedded processing stack
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, and demonstrated ability to work in a multidisciplinary research team

Education/Experience: A Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Materials Science, Physics, or related physical sciences, completed within the last 5 years or to be completed soon.

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with algorithm-hardware co-design, particularly mapping numerical or statistical computations onto FPGA or custom accelerators
• Familiarity with reduced-precision/quantized numerics and their effect on algorithm accuracy
• Background in machine learning, probabilistic methods, or uncertainty quantification
• Experience with robotics/autonomy pipelines involving SLAM, visual-inertial odometry, or sensor fusion
• Experience designing for bounded-latency or real-time system constraints (safety-critical, avionics, or similar domains)
• Track record of benchmarking custom hardware against CPU/GPU baselines
• Demonstrated experience in conducting original scientific research through peer-reviewed publication records. Publication record in relevant venues (FPGA, FCCM, DAC/ICCAD, robotics, or ML-hardware conferences)
• Prior experience at a national lab or in safety-critical systems development
• Ability to obtain a Q Clearance, which requires U.S. Citizenship

Outstanding candidates may be considered for a Director's Fellowship and for the prestigious Darleane Hoffman, Richard P. Feynman, or J. Robert Oppenheimer Fellowships. For general information refer to the Postdoctoral Program webpage.

Work Environment

Work Location

The work location for this position is onsite and located in Los Alamos, NM. All work locations are at the discretion of management.

Note to Applicants

• Applicants must submit a CV and a cover letter detailing how they meet the minimum requirements and the desired skills for this position.
• The appointment is for a duration of two years, with the possibility of a third-year extension based on performance evaluation.
• Candidates may be considered for a fellowship supported by the Center for Nonlinear Studies (CNLS), or the Information Sciences and Technology Institute (ISTI). Outstanding candidates may be considered for a Director's Postdoc Fellowship or for the prestigious Richard P. Feynman, Darleane Christian Hoffman, J. Robert Oppenheimer, or Frederick Reines Distinguished Postdoc Fellowships.
• For more information about the Postdoc Program, please go to https://www.lanl.gov/careers/career-options/postdoctoral-research/index.php
• Contacts: Dr. Natalie E. Klein ([e-mail]), Dr. Nandakishore Santhi ([e-mail]), Dr. Vigneshwaran Chandrasekaran ([e-mail])

Due to federal restrictions contained in the current National Defense Authorization Act, citizens of the People's Republic of China-including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau-as well as citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), and the Russian Federation, who are not Lawful Permanent Residents ("green card" holders) are prohibited from accessing facilities that support the mission, functions, and operations of national security laboratories and nuclear weapons production facilities, which includes Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Where You Will Work

Located in beautiful northern New Mexico, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security. Our generous benefits package includes:

• PPO or High Deductible medical insurance with the same large nationwide network
• Dental and vision insurance
• Free basic life and disability insurance
• Paid childbirth and parental leave
• Award-winning 401(k) (6% matching plus 3.5% annually)
• Learning opportunities and tuition assistance
• Flexible schedules and time off (PTO and holidays)
• Onsite gyms and wellness programs
• Extensive relocation packages (outside a 50 mile radius)

Additional Details

Directive 206.2 - Employment with Triad requires a favorable decision by NNSA indicating employee is suitable under NNSA Supplemental Directive 206.2. Please note that this requirement applies only to citizens of the United States. Foreign nationals are subject to a similar requirement under DOE Order 142.3A.

No Clearance

Position does not require a security clearance. Selected candidates will be subject to drug testing and other pre-employment background checks.

New-Employment Drug Test

The Laboratory requires successful applicants to complete a new-employment drug test and maintains a substance abuse policy that includes random drug testing. Although New Mexico and other states have legalized the use of marijuana, use and possession of marijuana remain illegal under federal law. A positive drug test for marijuana will result in termination of employment, even if the use was pre-offer.

Internal Applicants

Regular appointment employees who have served the required period of continuous service in their current position are eligible to apply for posted jobs throughout the Laboratory. If an employee has not served the required period of continuous service, they may only apply for Laboratory jobs with the documented approval of their Division Leader. Please refer to Policy Policy P701 for applicant eligibility requirements.

Equal Opportunity

Los Alamos National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer. All employment practices are based on qualification and merit, without regard to protected categories such as race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status or spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, medical conditions, pregnancy, status as a protected veteran, genetic information, or citizenship within the limits imposed by federal, state, and local laws and regulations. The Laboratory is also committed to making our workplace accessible to individuals with disabilities and will provide reasonable accommodations, upon request, for individuals to participate in the application and hiring process. To request such an accommodation, please send an email to [e-mail] or call (505)-664-6947.