Trusted Microelectronics Research & Design Engineer - GTRI - CIPHER - Open Rank

Position Overview

The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) is the nonprofit, applied research division of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Founded in 1934, GTRI has grown to over 2,900 employees supporting eight laboratories across more than 20 locations, performing over $940 million of research annually for government and industry. GTRI’s researchers combine science, engineering, economics, policy, and technical expertise to solve complex challenges.

The Hardware Security and Trust (HST) Division focuses on microelectronic applications, CAD tools, architectures, and materials to evaluate the security, trust, and reliability of critical microelectronic devices. In this open-rank position, the selected candidate will serve as a microelectronics expert responsible for research and contributions in design, synthesis, characterization, packaging, testing, reliability, security, and trustworthiness of nano-fabricated semiconductor devices. The role involves collaborating closely with research leaders, executing internal research initiatives, and potentially engaging in dual appointments within the university.

Key Responsibilities

• Utilize industry standard microelectronic design and verification tools (e.g., Vivado, Quartus, Cadence, Modelsim, OneSpin).
• Apply knowledge of microelectronic circuitry to develop custom software and scripting solutions in support of design security and analysis.
• Implement software interfacing with microelectronic EDA/CAD tools and develop advanced algorithms for graph analysis, data analysis, and clustering.
• Utilize laboratory equipment (oscilloscopes, signal generators, logic analyzers, optical microscopes, soldering equipment) to support design, analysis, and verification tasks.
• Develop and maintain familiarity with languages such as Verilog, VHDL, Python, C, C++, Rust, Kotlin, or Java (or similar).
• Contribute to technical reports and presentations.
• Research microelectronics system development methodologies to enhance design security and trust.
• Develop analysis techniques to assess the security of both new and existing designs.
• Study emerging device architectures and perform design and verification of complex, high-performance applications.
• Utilize a mix of commercial, open-source, and custom tools to implement security enhancements in FPGA/ASIC design, verification, and hardware testing.
• Develop innovative techniques using low-level (RTL and gate) design inspection, simulation, and formal methods; apply bench testing to identify security concerns.
• Design and apply custom PCBs to evaluate various properties of microelectronic devices.

Required Qualifications

• A strong understanding of embedded systems, hardware design, digital logic design, and various microelectronic architectures.
• Competency in designing hardware leveraging at least one industry-standard HDL language (i.e., Verilog, SystemVerilog, VHDL).
• Experience with a major FPGA vendor design tool suite (e.g., Xilinx Vivado, Altera/Intel Quartus, Microsemi Libero) and familiarity with the full design flow, including simulation, synthesis, place-and-route, timing analysis, closure, and floor planning.

Preferred Qualifications

• Active TS/SCI Clearance.
• Hands-on experience with hardware testing, troubleshooting, and embedded hardware/software integration using laboratory test equipment such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers.
• Design experience with common hardware interfaces (e.g., UART, SPI, I2C), data flow management (e.g., FIFOs, clock domain crossing), and bus protocols (e.g., AXI, AMBA).
• Experience performing hardware verification using industry-standard tools and methodologies (e.g., ModelSim/Questa, SystemVerilog, UVM).
• Experience with modeling digital signal processing blocks using Python, Octave, MATLAB, or Simulink.
• Experience in analog/digital circuit design, PCB design, and manufacturing.
• Experience with embedded C/C++ or Rust programming and high-level scripting languages (e.g., Python, TCL).
• Comfortable working in a Linux environment.

Benefits & Perks

• Benefits: Comprehensive benefits including Health & Welfare, Retirement Plans, Tuition Reimbursement, Time Off, and Professional Development. More details can be found at https://benefits.hr.gatech.edu/.