AI Research Scientist

Cognex is a global leader in the exciting and growing field of machine vision. Our employees, proudly called “Cognoids”, are passionate about solving the most difficult vision problems with our embedded cameras and software products featuring state-of-the-art 2D and 3D vision technology using deep learning. Our Work Hard, Play Hard, Move Fast culture recognizes achievement and dedication with unique rewards and celebrations.

We are looking for creative, bright, motivated Cognoids who share our passion for excellence and want to make an impact at a dynamic, global company. We celebrate our employees for their innovation, perseverance, and hard work in a fun, rewarding, and quirky environment. If you enjoy the sense of accomplishment that comes from working together to create products that solve tough problems for organizations around the world, contact us to see how you can become part of our team!

The Team: Deep Learning R&D – Advanced Vision Technology:

This position is for a Scientist in the AI R&D group in the Advanced Vision Technology organization. As a Scientist on this team, you will be responsible for researching, designing, implementing and deploying state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms for industrial machine vision applications, with a mission to innovate on behalf of customers and make this technology accessible to a broad range of users and platforms. You will apply the latest trends in computer vision and natural language processing algorithms, including transformers and generative AI, to solve real world problems in the manufacturing industry such as defect inspection, barcode decoding, robotic guidance, image generation, etc. In this role, you will work alongside machine vision experts in software and hardware engineering, product, sales and marketing working on a range of problems across different industries, including consumer goods, aerospace, automotive, logistics pharmaceuticals, robotics, and electronics.

Your research will typically span questions like:

What are the best neural network architectures to solve real world vision problems in industrial manufacturing?
How can we make neural networks run faster on low-powered devices?
How can we adapt neural networks to new tasks and products quickly in low data settings?
How can we adopt the latest trends in the fields of speech and natural language processing and apply them to computer vision problems?
How can we combine traditional computer vision algorithms with deep learning technology, to solve a wider range of problems?
How do we productize advanced technology while making it easy for non-data-scientists to deploy on their production lines?

Within the team, development is primarily done in Python. Engineers in this group typically have experience with deep learning, image analysis, machine vision, statistical learning, or signal processing. Success in this role has the potential to lead to increased responsibility at Cognex.

The Role:

This group is seeking scientists with a passion for innovation to lead deep learning research and development in industrial machine vision as well as those who have the aptitude and interest to work with an exceptional development team.

Essential Functions:

Research, develop and evaluate modern deep learning algorithms for computer vision, with a focus on algorithms with low power, low latency and data efficiency requirements
Translate business requirements into quick working prototypes in order to demonstrate capabilities to internal and external stakeholders
Collaborate closely with software and hardware engineering teams as well as product teams to transition prototypes to scalable and user-friendly implementations in Cognex products
Keep abreast of the latest research in industry and academia and propose algorithmic advancements applicable to Cognex products

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

Industry or academic experience developing and optimizing deep learning algorithms in one or more relevant technical areas – computer vision, natural language processing, speech recognition
Deep understanding of convolutional neural networks and transformer architectures
Proficiency with at least one deep learning framework such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
Strong programming skills, professional programming experience desirable
Creative, motivated, and looking to work hard for an aggressive growth company
Demonstrated experience in incubating and productizing new technology from ideation to scalable implementation

Minimum education and work experience required: