“Come work with us to explore the application of reinforcement learning for enhancing Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) algorithms for suppressing noise in complex environments. If you are an RL/ML researcher or engineer excited about applying your skills to an important real-world industrial application, this is the right opportunity for you. You will have the opportunity to learn a new domain and be mentored by a team of senior scientists and engineers.”

Payam Mousavi | Applied Research Scientist

About the Role

This is a paid residency that will be undertaken over a twelve-month period with the potential to be hired by our client ZeroSound afterwards (note: at the discretion of the client). The resident will be reporting to an Amii Scientist and regularly consult with the Client team to share insights and engage in knowledge transfer activities. At the end of the engagement, it is expected that the work could be publishable to a respected conference or journal.

About our Client

ZeroSound Systems Inc., established in 2018, is dedicated to pioneering Digital Active Noise Suppression technology for both indoor and outdoor environments. Their intelligent platform provides industrial clients with the tools to measure, understand, and control noise effectively, setting new standards in noise management.

About the Project

At ZeroSound, the objective is to redefine noise control through advanced technology. This project endeavors to pioneer AI-driven solutions tailored to combat the challenges of noise pollution across diverse environments, with a focus on integrating audio and sound engineering aspects.

The project's primary goals include the analysis of audio data sourced from various environments, facilitating real-time monitoring and management of noise levels. Additionally, it aims to leverage sound engineering principles to develop innovative solutions for noise cancellation and mitigation. Through this engagement with Amii, ZeroSound seeks to establish itself as a leader in the field of noise control technology by delivering groundbreaking products that set new standards in the industry.

Required Skills / Expertise

Are you passionate about building great solutions? Do you want to drive a high impact early-stage business? You'll be presented with opportunities to both personally and professionally develop as you build your career. We're looking for a talented and enthusiastic individual with a solid background in machine learning (with a focus on reinforcement learning), ideally with some experience in signal processing, control engineering, and audio/sound processing.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, implement, and optimize ML algorithms specifically tailored for signal processing and audio/sound engineering applications.
• Develop, train, and evaluate ML models customized for addressing challenges in noise cancellation and sound manipulation.
• Prepare and curate datasets, focusing on signal and audio data, for ML training and optimization.
• Utilize relevant open-source tools to enhance data and ML tasks related to audio and sound engineering.
• Conduct applied research on ML techniques, with a focus on overcoming obstacles within the signal processing and audio domains.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and stakeholders to develop minimum viable products (MVPs) and client-centric solutions.
• Engage in regular client meetings, contributing to presentations and reports on project progress.
• Create and optimize data and ML workflows specifically tailored for audio and sound engineering applications.
• Optimize ML pipelines to ensure efficiency, scalability, and real-time processing capabilities.

Required Qualifications:

• Completion of a graduate level program or higher (M.Sc/Ph.D) in Computing Science, ML or Engineering
• Research or project experience in machine learning and specifically reinforcement learning
• Proficient in Python programming language and related ML frameworks, libraries and toolkits (e.g. Scikit learn, Tensorflow, PyTorch, Pandas)
• A positive attitude towards learning and understanding a new applied domain
• Must be legally eligible to work in Canada

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with signal processing and control engineering
• Experience applying machine learning specifically to audio/sound engineering, including active noise cancellation and sound manipulation projects.
• Hands-on experience in AI/ML development projects
• Publication record in peer-reviewed academic conferences or relevant journals in machine learning

Non-Technical Requirements:

• Desire to take ownership of a problem and demonstrate leadership skills
• Interdisciplinary team player enthusiastic about working together to achieve excellence
• Capable of critical and independent thought
• Able to communicate technical concepts clearly and advise on the application of machine intelligence
• Intellectual curiosity and the desire to learn new things, techniques, and technologies

Why You Should Apply

Besides gaining industry experience, additional perks include:

• Work under the mentorship of an Amii Scientist for the duration of the project
• Participate in professional development activities
• Gain access to the Amii community and events
• Build your professional network
• The opportunity for a ongoing machine learning role at the client's organization at the end of the term (at the client's discretion)

About Amii

One of Canada's three main institutes for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, our world-renowned researchers drive fundamental and applied research at the University of Alberta (and other academic institutions), training some of the world's top scientific talent. Our cross-functional teams work collaboratively with Alberta-based businesses and organizations to build AI capacity and translate scientific advancement into industry adoption and economic impact.

How to Apply

If this sounds like the opportunity you've been waiting for, please don't wait for the closing May 7, 2024 to apply - we're excited to add a new member to the Amii team for this role, and the posting may come down sooner than the closing date if we find the right candidate before the posting closes! When sending your application, please send your resume and cover letter indicating why you think you'd be a fit for Amii. In your cover letter, please include one professional accomplishment you are most proud of and why. We are hoping to have the successful candidate start by the end of May 2024.

Applicants must be legally eligible to work in Canada at the time of application.

Amii is an equal opportunity employer and values a diverse workforce. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age or disability. Accommodations for disability-related needs throughout the recruitment and selection process are available upon request. Any information provided by you for accommodations will be kept confidential and won't be used in the selection process.