Responsibilities
Your Commitment
The successful candidate will help in developing smart agriculture practices and technologies to detect plant diseases using machine vision technologies. He/she will design, develop, test, and implement a machine vision-assisted artificial intelligence (AI) based prototype variable rate sprayers for targeted applications of fungicides in tomatoes and eggplants in greenhouse and field environments. He/she will be involved in developing variable rate sprayers for targeted applications in young date palm trees, utilizing ultrasonic and other sensors for accurate tree volume calculations and disease management.
The successful candidate will also monitor water, nutrient, and plant characteristics in real time for agriculture systems comprising greenhouse vegetable and date palm production in Qatar. In particular, the potential candidate will support the research toward the development of intelligent technologies to study aspects of food security and natural resource sustainability in the context of Qatar food security and sustainability needs. The incumbent will perform tests using a variety of modern field and laboratory equipment; assess target detection and spraying accuracy, mitigation strategies for climate change, computational and GIS analysis, calibrating and maintaining instrumentation; participating in the collection of the field as well as greenhouse production samples throughout Qatar, assisting in data analysis, manuscript writing, and preparing project reports. The successful candidates will interact with researchers and stakeholders (local and international collaborators and institutions) with respect to the related projects
Qualifications
Qualifications
The candidates must have a PhD in Agriculture/Robotics/Computer/Software/Electrical/Automation Engineering, or closely related disciplines from a renowned university. The potential candidates should have a demonstrated record of scholarship and a track record of excellence in research related to developing agricultural robotics or precision spraying technologies. The candidate should have a solid background in computer programming languages (e.g., Python, CUDA) and machine learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, Pytorch), electronics, instrumentation, and agricultural machinery development. The candidates should have experience with the operation of the laboratory and agricultural equipment (including soil moisture sensors, GPS, drones, stand-alone and networked sensors and weather stations, irrigation systems, image capturing with thermal and infrared cameras, image processing, deep learning, artificial intelligence, and machine vision. Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Fluency in written and spoken Arabic is an advantage.
Preferable research experiences
Skills
Skills in system automation, the use of microprocessors, analysis of meteorological data, climate-change modeling, design, development, and evaluation of agricultural best management practices, precision agriculture, mechanized farming, greenhouse control systems, and resource (soil, water, nutrient, and soilless media) optimization, and the use of GIS and Statistical Software for data analysis.
University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) was officially established by the Emiri Decision No.13 of 2022, and it is the first national university that specializes in academic applied, technical, and professional education in the State of Qatar. UDST has over 70 Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programs, and diplomas. The University houses 5 Colleges: The College of Business, the College of Computing and Information Technology, the College of Engineering & Technology, the College of Health Sciences and the College of General Education in addition to specialized training centers for individuals and companies. UDST is recognized for its student-centered learning and state-of-the-art facilities. Its world-renowned faculty and researchers work on developing the students’ skills and help raise well-equipped graduates who are proudly serving different sectors of the economy and contributing to the achievement of human, social and economic development goals nationally and internationally.