Job Description
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore (NUS) invites applications for one (1) Research Assistant position in the Constructive Machines Laboratory. The lab builds robotic systems that autonomously build structures and studies the two-way relationship between how a structure is designed and how it is built. Its current focus is a team of mobile manipulators that transport and assemble scaffolding systems, temporarily support unstable partial assemblies, and progressively turn the structure-in-progress into navigable space for themselves.
The successful candidate will lead the design side of this loop. Working closely with the robotics team, the Research Assistant will develop robot-friendly structural systems — reusable bar-and-coupler assemblies, connection details, and element libraries — that robots can grasp, position, and connect autonomously, and will build the computational pipeline that turns these designs into assembly data for the planning system.
The Research Assistant is expected to:
- Design and iteratively refine robot-friendly structural systems, with attention to robotic graspability, assembly tolerance, reversibility, and reuse across projects.
- Develop parametric design models and the geometry-to-assembly-data pipeline that connects structural design to the robotic planning system.
- Build, instrument, and document physical mock-ups and laboratory testbed assemblies used to validate the designs at full scale.
Job Requirements
- At least a Bachelor's degree in Architecture, Structural Engineering, or a related field. A Master's degree in computational design, digital fabrication, or a related area will be preferred.
- Proficiency in Rhino and Grasshopper for parametric modelling of structural assemblies.
- Working knowledge of Python for computational geometry; experience with the COMPAS framework or comparable libraries is preferred.
- Hands-on experience with physical prototyping, digital fabrication, or workshop-based assembly work.
- Strong interest in robotics and automation in construction; prior exposure to robotic fabrication is advantageous.
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team of roboticists, designers, and engineers.
- Strong written and spoken communication skills.
- Open to fixed-term contract.