We are hiring!

Center for Industrial Artificial Intelligence | University of Maryland, College Park

Recruiting for Fall 2027

Shape the Future of AI in Industry

The Industrial Artificial Intelligence (IAI) Center at the University of Maryland, College Park, is seeking highly motivated PhD students, MS students, and postdoctoral researchers to join our growing research team in Fall 2027.

As we advance our AI Factory initiative, we are building a world-class research environment focused on the next generation of AI technologies that can transform engineering, manufacturing, and industrial systems. Our mission is to move beyond AI models and algorithms toward domain-driven, intelligent, and deployable AI solutions that deliver measurable industrial impact.

We believe the future of AI lies not only in developing more powerful algorithms, but also in integrating domain knowledge, industrial data, engineering principles, and advanced computing to solve complex real-world problems.

Our team works closely with leading companies across diverse industries, including semiconductors, aerospace, automotive, transportation, and energy systems. These partnerships provide opportunities to work with real industrial data, address challenging engineering problems, validate innovative AI technologies, and translate research breakthroughs into practical industrial applications.

Emerging Research Frontiers

We welcome candidates with backgrounds in machine learning, artificial intelligence, computer science, data science, electrical and mechanical engineering, and other relevant disciplines. We are particularly interested in researchers who are passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration and advancing AI from fundamental research to industrial deployment.

Our research explores several forward-looking areas:

Industrial Physical AI: Integrating AI with physical systems, engineering principles, and real-world operations to enable intelligent, adaptive, and autonomous industrial systems.
Domain Foundation Models: Developing specialized foundation models that combine industrial data, domain knowledge, and engineering principles.
Industrial Large Knowledge Models (ILKM): Connecting industrial knowledge, knowledge graphs, engineering documents, and operational data to build knowledge-intensive AI systems.
Agentic AI for Engineering and Manufacturing: Developing intelligent AI agents capable of reasoning, planning, coordinating workflows, and supporting complex industrial decision-making.
Continual Learning and Stream-of-X (SoX)Intelligence: Enabling AI systems to learn continuously from evolving data streams, changing operating conditions, and new industrial experiences. SoX platform will be a next-generation data analytics platform for developing machine learning in industry. It will be integrated with our 5C architecture for AI implementation in smart manufacturing.
Next-Generation AI for Semiconductor Manufacturing: Advancing AI for process optimization, advanced inspection, yield improvement, and intelligent manufacturing.
Multimodal Machine Learning: Integrating sensor signals, images, engineering documents, time-series data, and other modalities for deeper industrial insights.
Transfer Learning and Domain Adaptation: Addressing data scarcity and distribution shifts to enable AI solutions to generalize across machines, processes, products, and facilities.
Similarity-Based Machine Learning: Developing data-efficient learning approaches for industrial diagnosis, pattern recognition, anomaly detection, and decision support.
Prognostics and Health Management (PHM): Advancing intelligent monitoring, fault diagnosis, remaining useful life prediction, and reliability-centered maintenance.

We also welcome new research directions that combine emerging AI methodologies with important engineering and industrial challenges.

Why Join the Industrial AI Center?

At the IAI Center, you will have opportunities to:

Work on frontier AI research: Explore emerging technologies in machine learning, foundation models, agentic AI, and Industrial Physical AI.
Solve real-world engineering challenges: Work with industrial data and problems from leading companies across multiple sectors.
Bridge theory and practice: Develop innovative algorithms and validate them against real engineering requirements and industrial performance objectives.
Collaborate across disciplines: Work with researchers, faculty, and industry partners in AI, data science, and engineering.
Contribute to industrial transformation: Help shape the next generation of intelligent manufacturing, engineering systems, and industrial operations.
Build your research and professional network: Engage with an interdisciplinary research community and industrial collaborators working at the forefront of AI innovation.

We seek researchers who are intellectually curious, technically strong, creative, and motivated to make meaningful contributions to both AI research and industrial practice.

How to Apply

Learn more about our research, projects, and industry collaborations at:

Website: www.iaicenter.com

Interested candidates should email Professor Jay Lee and copy iaicenter@umd.edu.

Please use the following subject-line format:

Join IAI Center: [Position of Interest]

Examples:

Join IAI Center: PhD Student
Join IAI Center: MS Student
Join IAI Center: Postdoctoral Researcher
Join IAI Center: Visiting Student

Please include your CV or resume, a brief statement of research interests, and relevant information about your academic background and research experience.

We look forward to hearing from talented and motivated researchers who share our vision of advancing AI for engineering and industry.

IAI Center
University of Maryland, College Park
Jeong H. Kim Engineering Building, Room 3128
8228 Paint Branch Drive
College Park, MD 20742, USA

Join us in shaping the next generation of Industrial AI.