Research Assistant – IC Design & EDA

About the role

The School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nanyang Technological University seeks a Research Assistant to advance open-source processor and accelerator architectures. The role involves doctoral-level research on energy-efficient IC design and electronic design automation.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct doctoral research on open-source processor architectures and AI accelerators, focusing on RISC-V based systems.
• Design, implement, and evaluate digital ICs using Verilog/SystemVerilog.
• Develop and optimise EDA workflows with open-source tools for design, verification, and physical implementation.
• Explore architecture-algorithm co-design for machine-learning and AI acceleration.
• Perform performance, power, and area (PPA) analysis of designs.
• Publish findings in top-tier conferences and journals and contribute to open-source hardware and EDA communities.
• Participate in research group activities, seminars, and collaborations.

Required profile

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science or a related field.
• Strong interest in processor architecture, digital IC design, or AI hardware acceleration.
• Knowledge of computer architecture, digital systems and machine-learning algorithms.
• Experience with ASIC design methodologies and open-source IC design/EDA tools.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct high-quality research and publish.
• Analytical, problem-solving mindset and ability to work independently and collaboratively.

Required skills

• Verilog and SystemVerilog.
• ASIC design flow.
• Open-source EDA tools (e.g., open-source synthesis, place-and-route).
• RISC-V processor development.
• Digital IC design and implementation.
• Performance, power and area (PPA) analysis.