Visual Studies and Visualization
Associate in Research (AR) for Software Development
Duke University
The Visual Studies and Visualization initiatives are seeking an experienced software programmer with visualization and/or art experience to serve as an Associate in Research. The two main duties of this position are to a) manage projects and provide technical support for the MediaWall installation in the Duke LINK teaching and learning center and b) serve as a resource for projects spearheaded by Prof. Bill Seaman. The successful candidate will be comfortable with the linux operating system and some database tools as well as attention to details necessary for art installations. The successful candidate will work well with faculty and students, be intelligent, flexible, and highly personable.
Media Wall Description:
The Media Wall is a 48 monitor tiled display (12 x 4) controlled by a linux cluster with three cone speakers and four web cameras. The media wall, along with nearby wall space that’s augmented with speakers and web cameras, are designed for art installations, visualization projects, and engineering projects. The AR would be the primary point of contact for coordinating "calls for participation" for projects for the walls, interface with faculty who want to use the wall for classroom exercises or projects, as well as the technical support person to get those projects installed and working.
Prof. Bill Seaman Projects Description:
Create a new form of multi-modal database for art, research, and coursework working in conjunction with Seaman, including the development of links to chosen external distributed databases. Add additional functionality to a dynamic website.
Responsibilities:
Work with student organizations and faculty to get new artwork and multimedia projects developed and installed on the media wall; Manage media wall projects by setting policies, managing disk space, determining rotation schedules; Evaluate, install, and support multimedia software on a variety of platforms (Linux, Mac OSX)
Develop software for the Media Wall and Prof. Seaman’s projects; Manage databases for Prof. Seaman’s projects;
Work as part of a team of staff and faculty in Visual Studies to share knowledge and expertise
Collaborate with visualization staff on distributed software solutions.
Skills:
Ability to manage multiple deadlines and projects. Ability to mentor and train students, staff and faculty. Strong interpersonal skills and a positive attitude are absolutely essential, as the position will require working closely with a wide variety of people. Knowledge of relational databases with the potential to author a new form of multi-modal database. Ability to include sensory information streams (i.e. video cams, pressure sensors, heat sensors, sonar) into databases, art and engineering installations.
The ability to install peripherals into a computer system. This could include trouble shooting, hardware hacking, sensor knowledge.
Candidate must be comfortable with Linux, have knowledge of: C, C++, and a working knowledge of python or java or perl. Additional preference will be given to candidates who have also worked with the Processing language.
Education and Experience:
Candidate should, at the minimum have an advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering or Masters of Fine Art.
Interested candidates should send cover letter and CV to Renee Brown (brownrr [at] duke [dot] edu)
Questions should be directed to Rachael Brady (rbrady [at] duke [dot] edu) or Bill Seaman (bill [dot] seaman [at] duke [dot] edu)