Research Associate (Lab Technician / Research Scientist – Turnkey Systems)

Faculty/Department Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science Unit Engineering-Dean's Office Employee Group CUPE 5791 - Research Collective Agreement Consideration Open to the Public. CUPE 5791 Job Family Research Category Staff Number of Vacancies 3 Position Summary The University of Regina is a public research university with a strong commitment to interdisciplinary scholarship, graduate education, and research that engages local, national, and global challenges. Located in Regina, Saskatchewan, the University is situated in a mid-sized and increasingly diverse city in the Canadian prairies. The University is situated on Treaty 4 Territory—the territories of the Nêhiyawak, Anihšinapek, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda peoples—and the traditional homeland of the Métis/Michif Nation, with a presence in Treaty 6. Position Overview The position will focus on designing, developing, and integrating turnkey sensing systems across the full electronics and mechanical lifecycle—from multilayer PCB design and microcontroller programming to graphical user interface (GUI) development and mechanical CAD modelling (AutoCAD, Fusion 360, SolidWorks)—with a strong emphasis on mechatronics and swarm-based unmanned systems. The role involves system-level integration of IoT connectivity, embedded systems, and diverse AI/ML techniques for sensor platforms, alongside the design, prototyping, and field validation of UAVs and drones for land, water, and air operations. The incumbent will contribute to swarm design, including multi-agent coordination, cooperative sensing, communication architectures, formation control, path planning, and decentralized autonomy for UAVs, UGVs, USVs, and hybrid/amphibious platforms. They will also manage project budgets, procurement, vendors, and deliverables for funded research projects, and support field validation, documentation, and training of junior personnel. High-performing candidates may have the opportunity to transition into a job-embedded PhD after 6–12 months, allowing them to pursue doctoral studies while continuing their full-time research and development work at the University. Responsibilities: Design and develop multilayer PCBs for sensor interfacing, signal conditioning, data acquisition, and power management using industry-standard EDA tools (e.g., Altium, KiCad, Eagle). Program microcontrollers (ARM Cortex, ESP32, Arduino, PIC, or equivalent) in C/C++, Python, or MicroPython for real-time data acquisition, actuator control, communication protocols, and low-power operation. Develop intuitive graphical user interfaces (GUIs) using Qt, PyQt, LabVIEW, or web-based dashboards for real-time data visualization, remote system control, and end-user interaction. Lead system-level design integration, ensuring seamless interaction between sensing materials, analog front-ends, digital processing units, communication modules, and power subsystems. Create mechanical enclosures, mounting fixtures, and system housings using CAD software, including AutoCAD, Fusion 360, and SolidWorks, to protect electronic assemblies for field-deployable and ruggedized environments. Implement IoT connectivity (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRaWAN, Zigbee, cellular, MQTT, HTTP/REST) and integrate AI/ML algorithms for on-device sensor data processing, including: Edge AI: TensorFlow Lite Micro, CMSIS-NN, or similar frameworks for real-time inference on microcontrollers. Predictive Analytics: Time-series forecasting (LSTM, GRU, Prophet) for predictive maintenance and environmental trend analysis. Anomaly Detection: Isolation Forest, Autoencoders, or One-Class SVM for identifying outliers and sensor faults. Classification: Support Vector Machines (SVM), Random Forest, Gradient Boosting (XGBoost, LightGBM), and Neural Networks for pattern recognition and event detection. Regression Models: Linear/Polynomial Regression, Ridge, Lasso, and Gaussian Process Regression for sensor calibration and concentration p…

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