The Computational Health Informatics Laboratory (CHIL) in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo and the Intelligent Assistive Technology and Systems Laboratory (IATSL) at the University of Toronto seeks a highly qualified postdoctoral researchers with strong background and interest in building intelligent technologies for the assistance of persons with cognitive disabilities. We are particularly interested in candidates who work well in transdisciplinary environments, and who have interests in affective and social computing.
The successful candidates must have obtained a recent Ph.D. in computer science, computer engineering, mathematics, or a related field. Candidates with a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, medicine, psychology, or other clinical sciences will be considered if they have a demonstrated ability for technical (e.g. mathematical or computational) research, or if they fit exceptionally well within the scope of the projects below.
Candidate should have interests and outstanding publication records in one or more of the following topics:
Candidates with interests in other areas, but who feel their research aligns well with the projects described below, are also welcome to apply. The Successful candidate will be expected to conduct independent research and to contribute to one or more of the projects described below. Successful candidates will also be expected to work closely with undergraduate, Master's and Ph.D. students. Publication of significant research in high quality venues will be a top priority for successful candidates. Expected start dates for the position are in the fall of 2015. Successful candidates will receive a one-year contract, with expected extensions based on performance to (at least) current funding timelines of three years.
Applicants should email the following to Jesse Hoey (jhoey "at" cs.uwaterloo.ca) before March 1st, 2016:
Applications without all of elements above will not be considered. Applications received after the due date may be considered, but priority will be given to applications arriving by the due date.
One of the most common and empowering activities in our culture is the ability to work. Work provides a validation of an individuals' ability to earn money and support themselves, to add value to society, and be part of one of the most universal activities in the world. Housed out of the University of Colorado, the RERC-ACT project takes five projects and integrates them together to create a solution intended to help people with cognitive disabilities to succeed in the workplace. The specific aim of this project is to substantially increase the number of trained individuals with cognitive disabilities who are placed in the workforce and who are successful in their jobs through the development and implementation of computer-based systems to support the knowledge and skills required by people with cognitive disabilities to enter and remain in a workplace. IATSL is working in collaboration with the University of Colorado on the development of NCAPS, a sub-project on the RERC-ACT to create the COACH@Work system. This research involves adapting IATSL's existing COACH system for use in a factory assembly task.
This project in in collaboration with the University of Colorado and is part of the RERC for the Advancement of Cognitive Technologies (ACT). See the following for further details: http://www.iatsl.org/projects/ncaps.html http://rerc-act.org/
DIY-AIDE (Do-it-Yourself Adaptable Intelligent Domestic Environments) aims to build a "do-it-yourself" version of a smart-home which connects users with developers by building a person-specific logical knowledge base of user needs, emotions, assistance dynamics, sensors, actuators and care solutions. The knowledge base will also serve as a run-time processor for the provision of assistance in specific tasks: it will act as the equivalent of a 'smart home', but will be a dynamically evolving variant, customisable in real-time by end users and product developers. Thus, in DIY-AIDE, the smart-home emerges from the specific requirements of a user in a do-it-yourself approach that gives control to the user, while allowing them to access technological solutions. DIY-AIDE will use a participatory design approach to elicit needs from elders and their families and to evaluate performance and acceptability, and a technical approach to build artificially intelligent systems for monitoring and for assistance during activities of daily living. Participatory design and technical work will combine to provide socially and emotionally aligned systems that people can easily and comfortably customize for their needs, and that will assist, reassure and provide safety. DIY-AIDE is a multi-site and multi-lingual project, done in collaboration with researchers from the Université de Sherbrooke (Québec).
DIY-AIDE is funded by the AGE-WELL Networks of Centers of Excellence (www.age-well.ca), a large Canadian, multi-institution network of researchers working on technological solutions for aging. Postdoctoral fellows on this project will collaborate with other AGE-WELL researchers, attend network events, and help write reports for AGE-WELL.
See here for more details on the research.