Job Description

The College of Architecture, Art, and Planning at Cornell University (Cornell AAP) includes the departments of Architecture, Art, City and Regional Planning, the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate (jointly led by AAP and the SC Johnson College of Business), the multicollege Department of Design Tech, and the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities. The college spans three locations—in Ithaca, New York City, and Rome, Italy—each with world-class facilities and cutting-edge technologies.

Cornell AAP is about acts of transformation. We are committed to reimagining and reshaping the world in new ways, every day. A vital college at one of the nation's foremost research universities, Cornell AAP brings faculty, staff, and students together from around the world to address urgent global challenges and advance collaborative, research-driven approaches that support a more just and resilient future.

Purpose of the Position:

This Temporary Research Aide position supports faculty-led research under the supervision of Jenny Sabin as part of the URoL:EN NSF-funded project. The appointment builds on sustained prior contributions to the project that have been mission-critical to advancing core research objectives.

The role is essential to ensuring continuity in the next phase of research, including the completion of two academic papers and a final set of functional prototypes scheduled for this summer. The position focuses on advancing material and fabrication testing, with an emphasis on robotic fabrication workflows and related software development.

This is a short-term, in-person appointment requiring specialized technical knowledge, prior experience within the lab environment, and familiarity with established project workflows to maintain research momentum during a critical phase of project completion.

Duties and Responsibilities may include:

• Continue development and refinement of software tools for robotic fabrication systems, building directly on prior work completed within the project.

• Implement, test, and optimize computational methods and scripts supporting material behavior and fabrication processes.

• Lead and support the next phase of material and fabrication testing, ensuring consistency and continuity with prior experimental results.

• Collaborate with faculty and research staff to integrate computational outputs with robotic fabrication systems and material experiments.

• Contribute to the development of final prototypes and assist in preparing results for two forthcoming academic publications.

• Maintain and organize codebases, digital models, and research documentation to support reproducibility and project continuity.

• Assist in analyzing fabrication results and synthesizing findings for internal review and external dissemination.

• Provide ongoing technical and research support to ensure timely completion of project milestones.

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience:

• Demonstrated experience in robotic fabrication, computational design, or closely related technical fields.

• Proficiency with programming and scripting languages (e.g., Python, C#, or similar) used in fabrication workflows.

• Experience with digital modeling tools and advanced fabrication technologies.

• Proven ability to work independently on complex technical tasks with minimal supervision.

• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and detail-oriented skills.

• Prior experience contributing meaningfully to interdisciplinary research projects in a lab or academic setting.

Requirements:

• Prior experience in the Sabin Lab or a comparable research environment involving robotic fabrication systems is required.

• Demonstrated contributions to the URoL:EN NSF project or highly similar research workflows, ensuring immediate effectiveness in the role.

• Ability to contribute to both software development and experimental research execution.

• Familiarity with existing project codebases, fabrication pipelines, and research objectives strongly preferred.

• Strong organizational and documentation skills to support final project deliverables, including prototypes and publications.

Location:
Ithaca Main Campus, 129 Sibley Hall, 921 University Ave, Ithaca, NY 14853

Supervisor:
Jenny Sabin

University Job Title:

Temporary Research Aide

Job Family:

Temporary Academic Support

Level:

No Grade - Hourly

Pay Rate Type:

Hourly

Pay Range:

Refer to Posting Language

Remote Option Availability:

Onsite

Company:

Contact Name:

Ann Owens

Contact Email:

aao29@cornell.edu

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• Unique applicable skills

• Academic Discipline

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2026-05-28