High-precision Imaging and Monitoring Research Scientist (KTP Associate)

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) are a unique UK-wide activity that help businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity by making better use of the knowledge, technology and skills within universities, colleges and research organisations. Further information is available at :

THE PROJECT

The University of Essex, in partnership with Landseer Ltd, offers an exciting opportunity to a graduate with the relevant skills and knowledge to develop a hyperspectral monitoring system, with associated Machine Learning capabilities, to detect disease and plant stress in apples before symptoms become visible to the human eye, allowing for instant plant health monitoring and the prevention of widespread disease and economic loss.

This post is fixed term for 36 months and is primarily based at Landseer’s farm-based offices in Chelmsford.

DUTIES OF THE POST

• Researching and understanding the latest hyperspectral imaging approaches, camera types / calibration, developments, and challenges
• Developing and implementing a computer vision and image processing module with handler
• Research / implementation / testing / evaluation of an IoT prototype for capturing / transmission / fusion of image and sensors’ data
• Implementation of a cloud-based dashboard that can interact with the system
• Identifying potential suppliers for equipment and establishing a supply chain
• Researching, understanding, and applying the most suitable Machine Learning modelling, by analysing different datasets, and unifying them
• Developing best practice in the storage and processing of large datasets
• Working with partners and colleagues to classify images to identify the different types of apple scab
• Developing an algorithm for disease prediction using the latest in Machine Learning
• Contributing to the writing of academic publications and teaching materials, with an appreciation of the potential of the project to contribute to the Research Excellence Framework
• Making and implementing decisions on administrative matters relating to strategy and business development
• Maintaining and nurturing relationships with executive stakeholders

KEY REQUIREMENTS

• BSc Hons: Computer Science / Engineering, Electronic / Telecommunication Engineering, or related discipline
• MSc Computer Science / Engineering, Computer Vision, Electronic Engineering, or equivalent experience
• High level knowledge and previous experience in Computer vision, image processing and Machine Learning
• High level knowledge and practical experience in IoT and embedded systems programming
• Knowledge and experience of C / C++ / python programming and interpreted high-level programming languages.
• Ability to write conference and journal papers / technical papers
• Experience in hyper / multi spectral imaging
• Experience in machine and robot vision

BENEFITS

• A personal development budget of £6,000 (exclusive of salary).
• Management training and mentoring by an Innovate UK KTP Adviser.
• An interesting and challenging role, with exposure to a variety of stakeholders.
• Full access to university resources to complete the project.
• World-leading Academic and Company project supervision, with project support by a dedicated, sector leading KTP Office.