Postdoctoral Research Associate - Human-Centered Design

at  Oak Ridge National Laboratory

OVERVIEW:

As a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science national laboratory, ORNL has an extraordinary 80-year history of solving the nation’s biggest problems. We have a dedicated and creative staff of over 6,000 people! Our vision for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) is to cultivate an environment and practices that foster diversity in ideas and in the people across the organization, as well as to ensure ORNL is recognized as a workplace of choice. These elements are critical for enabling the execution of ORNL’s broader mission to accelerate scientific discoveries and their translation into energy, environment, and security solutions for the nation.
We are seeking a Human-Centered Design Postdoctoral Research Associate who will focus on quantifying and improving human interaction with manufacturing systems and digital aids for manufacturing processes. This position resides in the Manufacturing Systems Design Group in the Manufacturing Sciences Division of the Energy Science and Technology Directorate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).
As part of our research team, you will quantify the current complexity of interactions and information flow, to inform the design of next generation interfacing between human, manufacturing systems, and digital tools. It is critical to understand the sensing and metrics needed to enable better CAM workflows, operator strategies and redesign efforts for the newest convergent manufacturing systems. This work will ultimately result in exploration of Human-AI interactions for both operators and designers in manufacturing contexts.

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• A PhD in mechanical engineering, or a related field completed within the last 5 years
• Experience in studying operator or designer behaviors for complex processes
• Experience with data streams for machine learning / artificial intelligence applications in design and manufacturing

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Motivated self-starter with the ability to work independently and to participate creatively in collaborative teams across the laboratory
• Ability to function well in a fast-paced research environment, set priorities to accomplish multiple tasks within deadlines, and adapt to ever changing needs
  Applicants cannot have received their Ph.D. more than five years prior to the date of application and must complete all degree requirements before starting their appointment. The appointment length will be for up to 24 months with the potential for extension. Initial appointments and extensions are subject to performance and the availability of funding.
  Please submit two letters of reference when applying to this position. You can upload these directly to your application or have them sent to postdocrecruitment@ornl.gov with the position title and number referenced in the subject line.

Instructions to upload documents to your candidate profile:

• Login to your account via jobs.ornl.gov
• View Profile
• Under the My Documents section, select Add a Document

• Identify opportunities for improved user workflows in next-generation convergent manufacturing processes
• Conduct research testing interventions in operator environments and design processes
• Quantify the performance of information flow between human-human and human-AI communication
• Establish interfaces for knowledge transfer between designers, operators, and digital aids
• Deliver ORNL’s mission by aligning behaviors, priorities, and interactions with our core values of Impact, Integrity, Teamwork, Safety, and Service. Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility by fostering a respectful workplace – in how we treat one another, work together, and measure success.