Assistant Research Engineer; Radio Frequency & Sensing Systems

Job Description Summary

Organization's Summary Statement:
The University of Maryland (UMD) Maryland Autonomous Technologies Research Innovation and eXploration Lab (MATRIX Lab) is an autonomous systems research, development, and education center operated by the

A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland, located at the University System of Maryland at Southern Maryland (USMSM) in St. Mary's County. The lab conducts cutting-edge research in autonomous technologies in partnership with federal sponsors including the U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Research (ONR), Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD), as well as leading defense industry partners.

The Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland serves as a catalyst for high-quality research, innovation, and learning, preparing students to address 21st-century grand challenges in energy, environment, security, and human health. The Clark School is dedicated to transforming the engineering discipline, accelerating entrepreneurship, and converting research and learning into innovations that benefit society.

Position Overview:

The Assistant Research Engineer (Radio Frequency & Sensing Systems) conducts applied and translational research at the intersection of RF/microwave engineering, multi-domain sensing, and autonomous systems integration at the MATRIX Lab. Reporting to Lab leadership and working in close collaboration with University of Maryland faculty, this position leads and supports the development of RF-enabled communication, sensing, and electronic warfare-resilient capabilities across the Lab's primary mission domains, with an emphasis on leveraging and advancing MATRIX's physical research infrastructure.

The position is a full-time research appointment suited for a researcher with a strong background in RF/microwave systems, low size, weight, and power (SWaP) electronics, and defense-relevant sensing who seeks to translate circuit- and system-level expertise into deployable autonomous platform capabilities. Please note this position is located at the MATRIX Lab facilities in California, MD.

• Leading research and experimental activities in the MATRIX Lab anechoic chamber, including antenna characterization, RF system performance evaluation, radar cross-section measurement, electromagnetic compatibility testing, and validation of communication and sensing payloads intended for autonomous platform integration.
• Developing and evaluating low-SWaP RF sensing and communication architectures, including wake-up receivers, millimeter-wave transceivers, radar front-ends, and passive or back scatter-based sensing systems, suitable for deployment on size-, weight-, and power-constrained aerial, maritime, and underwater autonomous vehicles.
• Designing and conducting multi-domain sensing experiments in the Omni-domain Autonomous Systems Integration Space (OASIS) and Hydrodynamics Lab, integrating RF, optical, acoustic, and inertial sensing modalities on autonomous platforms operating in GPS-denied and electromagnetically complex environments.
• Utilizing the Hydrodynamics Lab water tunnel and related facilities to characterize underwater acoustic and RF propagation, evaluate submerged sensor performance, and support the development of sensing and communication payloads for autonomous underwater vehicle applications.
• Developing resilient RF and electronic systems capable of operating reliably under environmental extremes, interference, jamming, or electronic warfare conditions relevant to contested maritime and aerial operational environments.
• Collaborating with interdisciplinary teams including UMD faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, defense industry partners, and Navy program stakeholders to integrate RF and sensing capabilities into broader autonomous systems architectures and mission workflows.
• Supporting proof-of-concept prototyping and transition of RF/sensing subsystems from bench-level demonstration through integration with autonomous platforms tested in MATRIX Lab facilities, translating laboratory results into sponsor-relevant deliverables.
• Preparing technical deliverables and briefings for government and industry stakeholders, translating complex hardware and systems-level research into clear, decision-relevant products such as reports, slide briefings, demonstration summaries, and white papers.
• Leading technical proposal writing and contributing to sponsored research proposals and technical work plans,…