Research Associate; Term

Date Posted: 02/27/2026
Req :47098
Faculty/Division: Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
Department: Dept of Mechanical & Industrial Eng
Campus:
St. George (Downtown Toronto)
Existing Vacancy: Yes

Description:

About Us:

The Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering is home to about 70 professors leading research on a very broad range of topics. On the Industrial Engineering side, research areas include Operations Research, Information Engineering, Human Factors, and Applied Machine Learning, all of which seek to improve the systems we as humans rely on to navigate our world. On the Mechanical Engineering side, research areas include Robotics, Mechanics & Design, Materials, and Thermofluids, topics that are applied to applications including manufacturing, energy production, and bioengineering.

We are also home to about 2,000 very talented students: about 1,300 undergraduates are enrolled in the Industrial Engineering and in the Mechanical Engineering BASc programs. We have about 350 Master of Engineering (MEng) students, a professional program for students taking courses with us for a year or two. And we have about 350 MASc and PhD students, who work individually on research projects with a particular professor.

The Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering prides itself on being a good place to work: respectful, accepting of difference and professional. We value employees who are goal-oriented and self-motivated, and who are constantly looking to improve how we serve our students and faculty. We believe in teamwork, in working together for the greater good, and yet doing so in a way that respects each employee’s work-life balance.

Finally, we value each employee as an individual, and look for opportunities to recognize each contribution.

Your Opportunity:

The Research Associate (Term) will work under the co-supervision of Prof. Scott Sanner (MIE, St. George) and Prof. Florian Skhurti (Computer Science, UTM) to maintain and develop learning and planning methodologies for world models in the PyRDDLGym software ecosystem.

The Research Associate (Term) position will be responsible for:

• Develop and execute research vision with PI to achieve research goals.

• Conducting novel, publishable research related to machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, and planning.

• Development and maintenance of Python software and packages.

• Drafting of documentation to support the dissemination and release of software.

• Design, implementation, and evaluation of experiments.

• Drafting of publication submissions documenting research innovations and outcomes.

• Communicating with project stakeholders in industry and academia.

• Managing and leading regular research meetings.

• Developing research proposals and providing support with grant applications where appropriate.

• Preparing presentations where appropriate.

• Provide technical support to related R&D projects in the areas of machine learning and AI.

• The Research Associate is expected to publish both at conferences and in journals.

Qualifications:

Education

• PhD degree in a STEM-related field (e.g., engineering, mathematics, computer science, or operations research) with demonstrated expertise in machine learning, deep learning, reinforcement learning, planning and related AI related topics.

Experience

• Minimum two years of research experience in academia at the post-doctoral level on machine learning and AI-related topics.

• Experience in deep learning.

• Experience in planning and reinforcement learning.

• Experience working with robotics platforms.

• Experience in mathematical presentation, derivation, and proofs of theorems related to machine learning and AI.

• Experience developing, maintaining, and documenting Python software packages.

• Experience maintaining large Git Hub repositories of software and addressing user issues in a timely manner.

• Cross-sector experience spanning private industry and research organizations will be seen as a significant advantage.

• Preference will be given to candidates with a strong record of creativity and innovation in AI, as demonstrated by their publication record.

Skills

• Strong technical and analytical…