Join Way of Water, a funded field-robotics project at ETH Zurich (Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control, Research D'Andrea). This is a project employee (staff) role where you deliver engineering work for the life of the project. It is not a PhD position and not an academic training track. The project builds autonomous surface robots that must survive rain, spray, transport, and real water, then return for the next campaign. This role is for someone with a mechanical and hardware focus who wants ownership and the opportunity to shape the physical platform.
Tasks
- Own the physical robot: structure, mechanisms, enclosures, mounts, and the path from idea to a part that can be built again.
- Design with manufacture, assembly, sealing, and service in mind.
- Prove designs with prototypes, fixtures, and tests, including outdoors.
- Work at the seams with electronics and software: space, connectors, heat, cables, access, and address challenges from water and vibration.
- Partner with workshops, suppliers, and technicians to turn drawings into reliable assemblies and field issues into controlled changes.
- Maintain clear models, revisions, and build notes for future reference.
Requirements
- About 0–5 years of hands-on experience after your degree; internships, thesis projects, Focus projects, and paid project work count.
- Early-career project-staff role.
- Background in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, robotics, or equivalent practical engineering experience.
- Evidence of taking hardware from concept to a tested object others can build or maintain, including CAD judgement, materials, fits, and manufacturing choices.
- Hands-on work is required: build, assemble, debug, and test physical hardware yourself — prototypes on the bench and outdoors, failure diagnosis, iteration from measurements.
- Fluency with electronics packaging and software-facing constraints to collaborate effectively.
- Appetite for outdoor and on-water testing; field days are part of the job, including Lake Zürich and partner sites.
- Independent working style and documentation habits that help a small team scale.
- Experience with sealed or outdoor equipment, small batches, robotics mechanisms, or light electronics is welcome.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation for a funded project role, depending on experience.
- Opportunity to start with mechanical ownership and grow into broader robotics craft and ownership inside a fixed-term project.
- Potential opportunity to join a planned spin-off early if mutually suitable after or alongside project delivery.
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