Postdoctoral AssociateFlorida Digital Twin; FLDT

Job No: 538686

Work Type: Full Time

Location: Jacksonville Campus

Categories: Construction/Design/Planning, Education/Training/Instructional Design, Computer Science

Department:  - DCP-SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

The Jax Lab program of the School of Architecture (SoA) at the University of Florida (UF) is hiring two Postdoctoral Associates as part of a coordinated team effort, each with a distinct focus but both contributing to the advancement of the FLDT mission.

About the Jax Lab and the Florida Digital Twin (FLDT)

Jax Lab is an applied research and teaching program operated by UF SoA in Jacksonville, Florida delivering the Master of Architecture degree. It serves as a place-based design and innovation hub—embedding faculty, students, and researchers within the dynamic urban fabric of Jacksonville. Jax Lab’s mission centers on community-engaged scholarship, transdisciplinary collaboration, and real-world impact, with an emphasis on resilient, equitable, and design-driven futures.

The Florida Digital Twin (FLDT) is a flagship research initiative funded by the UF Office of Research that leverages high-performance computing, AI, and geospatial modeling to build AI-powered replicas of the built and natural environment. FLDT enables real-time monitoring, predictive modeling, and scenario testing for Florida’s most pressing planning, environmental, and infrastructure challenges.

This position focuses on the technical development of FLDT. The postdoc will help develop, build, and maintain a suite of geospatial tools and data infrastructure that support large-scale 3D modeling, spatial data integration, and public-facing decision-support applications. The position will also teach an AI, coding, or other related course.

• Design, implement, and maintain ETL pipelines, APIs, and geospatial data services using UF’s Hi Per Gator  supercomputing environment.
• Support integration of diverse datasets across partner systems (e.g., JTA, FDEP, UF Geo Plan).
• Co‑develop a resource description framework (RDF) and knowledge graph databases that support semantic query.
• Contribute to publications and white papers documenting system design, workflows, and findings.
• Develop technical documentation to support scalability and reproducibility.
• Assist when needed with the administrative development of the Jax Lab program.
• Teach one course per year in Jax Lab.

• Terminal degree in Urban and Regional Planning, Architecture, or a closely related field. Master’s degree in Computer Science, Geoinformatics, Data Science is preferred.

• Proficiency in Python, geospatial libraries, API design (e.g., FastAPI), and cloud/HPC environments.
• Experience with containerization tools and orchestration platforms (Docker, Podman, Kubernetes), spatial databases (e.g., PostGIS), or 3D modeling workflows.
• Familiarity with GIS platforms (ArcGIS, QGIS) and web-based data visualization.
• Knowledge with Apache Jena, Neo4j, and Cloud Platforms (e.g., GCP, AWS).

This position focuses on community and urban design, hazard resilience, and/or stakeholder engagement. The post-doc will assist and/or teach related courses. The postdoc will work closely with community partners, faculty, and students to ensure that the Florida Digital Twin reflects local priorities, values, and lived experiences—especially within Jacksonville and surrounding areas.

• Lead community engagement activities including public forums, stakeholder interviews, and participatory mapping.
• Translate technical outcomes from FLDT into accessible materials and prepare high‑quality content (documents, images, case studies) for FLDT’s landing webpage.
• Teach one course per year (studio or seminar) with themes such as urban design, hazard resilience, civic technology, or digital twins.
• Collaborate with researchers to incorporate community feedback into model development and decision workflows.
• Contribute to proposal writing and documentation that reflect community outcomes and impact.