[visionlist] Postdoc position at Smith-Kettlewell (San Francisco)

[James Coughlan]

Post-doctoral Fellowship in Computer Vision for Blind/Low Vision 
Applications

The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute (located in San Francisco, 
CA) seeks a qualified researcher to join the Computer Vision Lab as a 
post-doctoral fellow. The Computer Vision Lab, under the direction of 
Dr. James Coughlan, is part of the Smith-Kettlewell Rehabilitation 
Engineering Research Center, a group focusing on the development of 
assistive technology and visual assessment for blindness and low vision.

Research activities will concentrate on developing computer vision 
algorithms for blind and low vision applications. Current applications 
include detecting and reading signs in indoor and urban environments, 
inferring the layout of traffic intersections and finding features such 
as curbs and curb cuts. Most of these algorithms will be designed to run 
in real time on a camera cell phone platform (running Symbian C++), and 
will be tested by blind and low vision users.

A Ph.D. in a computational field such as computer science, engineering, 
physics or math is required, and the applicant must have experience in 
computer vision. Proficiency in C++ is also required. Since the Computer 
Vision Lab emphasizes the use of Bayesian methods, the applicant will 
ideally have experience in probabilistic modeling and/or machine learning.

The fellowship will be funded by the National Research Service Award 
Program from the National Eye Institute (part of the National Institutes 
of Health), and must begin any time before Sept. 2007. One year of 
funding is guaranteed, and a second year is very likely. US citizenship 
or permanent residency is required; however, alternate funding may be 
available for people who do not fulfill these requirements.

Please contact Dr. Coughlan at coughlan at ski.org if you are interested in 
applying for the position. For more information about the Computer 
Vision Lab, see http://www.ski.org/Rehab/Coughlan_lab/