Description

Autodesk Research is dedicated to developing cutting-edge technologies and pioneering new workflows and experiences for our customers across AEC, Design & Manufacturing and Media & Entertainment industries. As a multidisciplinary team comprising scientists, industry practitioners and software creators, we assist customers in reimagining the future of designing and making.

One of our key focuses is the area of designing for human experience. We seek to enable and democratize the pursuit of human-centric principles and insights in all that our customers create by building innovative simulation tools for Autodesk software. To that end, we are exploring the intersection of latest developments in human sciences with advancements in technologies such as wearables, XR, computer vision, AI/ML. We are interested in understanding and then predicting nuances of human behavior, perception, emotions, cultural contexts as they pertain to informing the design of anything from cities, through infrastructure, landscapes, buildings, products to movies.

 Position Overview

Visiting scholars will engage with Autodesk Research in a consultant capacity to provide expertise and thought leadership, broaden our understanding through key connections, and help Autodesk Research identify important engagement points with academia and industry. This is a six (6) month minimum contract position.

 Responsibilities

      Advises on research methods

      Provides feedback and evaluation of research projects

      Suggests possible avenues for future research

      Develops strategies to initiate and build communities focused on human experiential and behavioural data collection. 

      Advises on social theories that can be leveraged in simulation work, persona definition modalities, and scientific methods and types of validation and experiments commonly used in social science fields 

      Identifies and explores opportunities to create open-source tools or frameworks

      Optionally provides skill development opportunities for Autodesk researchers

Requirements

Minimum Qualifications

      Is either a professor, assistant professor, associate professor, or graduate student

      Academic institution IP and conflicts policies permit scholar to engage in work-for-hire consulting in scholar’s individual capacity

The Ideal Candidate 

      Has a human sciences background (e.g. social, behavioural, cognitive, neuroscience)

      Has experience with simulation, in particular social and/or multi-agent background 

      Has knowledge of the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations) industry