Research Scientist - Robot Perception: GE Vernova Advanced Research

Job Description SummaryGE Vernova’s researchers work on the advancement of Robot Perception technology for industrial domain, ultimately contributing to the Energy Transition by electrifying the world and decarbonizing the energy sector.

As a Research Scientist in Robotic Perception, you will play a key role in solving challenging robot perception problems for various robotic platforms (i.e., manipulators, quadrupeds, etc.) in industrial settings. You will join a world-class research team working on scene understanding, object manipulation, and vision foundation models. You will shape novel techniques to expand the ability for robots to effectively interact with the world. You will develop algorithms for robotic systems for various industrial domains including renewable energy, power generation, electric grids, and manufacturing. This will involve working on projects with GE Vernova’s business units and a wide array of fellow researchers across disciplines and domains. It will also include the opportunity to work on government-sponsored, cutting-edge research programs with GE Vernova’s external partners in academia and government. You will help drive the future of robotics research at GE Vernova.

As a GE Vernova accelerator, GE Vernova Advanced Research is driving strategy and leading research & development efforts to execute on the business’s mission to power the energy transition. We forge the partnerships and invent the technologies required to electrify and decarbonize for a zero-carbon future.

Representing virtually every major scientific and engineering discipline, our researchers are collaborating with GE Vernova’s businesses, the U.S. government, and more than 420 technology partners to execute on 150+ energy-focused projects. Collectively, these research programs and initiatives aim to solve near term technical challenges, deliver next generation product advances, and drive long term breakthrough innovation to enable more affordable, reliable, sustainable, and secure energy.

Job Description

Essential Responsibilities:

• Work with teams of researchers on new and continuing projects 
• Develop robotic perception modules for application industrial manipulators
• Creatively combine state-of-the-art (SOTA) open-source models and in-house data to advance the robot capabilities
• Write high-quality (documented, tested, maintainable) Python / C / C++ code in a large shared codebase
• Implement and analyze prototypes and solutions for real-world problems
• Create intellectual property by writing invention disclosures and filing patents
• Publish research work to scientific journals and conferences
• Writing and/or supporting grant proposals

Qualifications/Requirements:

• PhD in Computer Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, or related fields with a focus on robotics, computer vision, or similar OR MS + 2 years' work experience in similar areas
• Strong Computer Vision / Computer Graphics research background
• Track record of published peer-reviewed research in topics such as:
  • Learned 3D reconstruction, depth prediction, feature matching, semantic segmentation, object 6-DoF pose and shape estimation
  • Vision-language models
  • Multimodal perception with vision/proprioception/touch sensing 
  • Learned visual representations and foundation models for robot manipulation
• Proficiency in Python programming and popular ML frameworks
• Legal authorization to work in the US is required. We will not sponsor individuals at the Master's level for employment visas, now or in the future, for this job opening.
• Must be willing to work out of an office located in Niskayuna, NY
• Must be 18 years or older
• You must submit your application for employment on the careers page at www.careers.gevernova.com to be considered

Desired Characteristics:

• PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Robotics, Computer Graphics or a related field
• Hands-on robotics (manipulators, quadrupeds etc.) experience
• Practical knowledge of 3D geometry, projective geometry, camera models

The salary range for this position is $85,600 - $140,000 USD, annually. The specific salary offered to a candidate may be influenced by a variety of factors including the candidate’s experience, their education, and the work location. This position is also eligible for a performance bonus. This position will remain posted until at least July 25th, 2025.

GE provides a comprehensive benefits package that provides access to plans which support the overall wellbeing of our employees and their dependents. These benefits include, but are not limited to, health care coverage (medical, dental, vision, pharmacy), a retirement plan that includes Company Retirement Savings and a 401K with Company matching, Life Insurance options, Disability coverage, paid time-off, EAP, and more.