research programmer job

[Carol Plathan]

RESEARCH PROGRAMMER JOB AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

STARTING SALARY: $36,895 - $43,406
STARTING DATE:  Fall 1990

The Connectionist Research Group in the Department of Computer
Science at the University of Toronto is looking for a research
programmer to develop a neural network simulator that uses Unix, C,
and X-windows.  The simulator will be used by our group of about 10
researchers, directed by Geoffrey Hinton, to explore learning
procedures and their applications.  It will also be released to some
researchers in Canadian Industry.  We already have a fast, flexible
simulator and the programmer's main job will be to further develop,
document, and maintain this simulator.  The development may involve
some significant re-design of the basic simulator.  Additional
duties (if time permits) will include:

Implementing several different learning procedures within the
simulator and investigating their performance on various data-sets;
Assisting industrial collaborators and visitors in the use of the
simulator; Porting the simulator to faster workstations or to boards
that use fast processors such as the Intel i860 or DSP chips;
Developing software for a project that uses a data-glove as an input
device to an adaptive neural network that drives a speech
synthesizer; Assisting in the acquisition and installation of
hardware and software required for the project;

The applicant should possess a Bachelors or Masters, preferably in
Computer Science or Electrical Engineering, and have at least two
years programming experience including experience with unix and C,
and some experience with graphics.  Knowledge of elementary calculus
and elementary linear algebra is essential.  Knowlege of numerical
analysis, information theory, and perceptual or cognitive psychology
would be advantageous.  Good oral and written communication skills
are required.

Please send CV + names of two or three references to Carol Plathan,
Computer Science Department, University of Toronto, 10 Kings College
Road, Toronto Ontario M5S 1A4.  You could also send the information
by email to carol at ai.toronto.edu or call Carol at 416-978-3695 for
more details.  The University of Toronto is an equal opportunity
employer.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The job can be given to a non-Canadian if they are better than any
Canadians or Canadian Residents who apply.  In this case, the
non-Canadian would probably start work here on a temporary work
permit while the application for a more permanent permit was being
processed.

There are already SEVERAL good applicants for the job.  Candidates
who do not already program fluently in C or have not already done
neural network simulations stand very little chance.  Also, it is
basically a programming job. The programmer may get involved in some
original research on neural nets, but this is NOT the main part of
the job, so it is not suitable for postdoctoral researchers who want
to get on with their own research agenda.

Interviews will be during September.  We will definitely not employ
anybody without an interview and we cannot afford to pay travel
expenses for interviews (except in very exceptional circumstances).
If there are several good applicants from the west coast of the USA,
I may arrange to interview them in California.

We already have sufficient funding to support the programmer for the
next three years. However, we have applied to the Canadian
Government for additional funding specifically for this work, and if
it comes through (in November 1990) the programmer will be
transferred to that source of funding and the simulator will
definitely be supplied to Canadian Industry.  The job will then
require more interactions with industrial users and more systematic
documentation, maintainance and debugging of the simulator releases.