Inria (Grenoble), France

human-robot interaction, machine learning, computer vision, representation learning

We are looking for highly motivated students joining our team at INRIA. This project will take place in close collaboration between Inria team THOTH and the multidisciplinary institute in artificial intelligence (MIAI) in Grenoble

Topic: Human-robot systems are challenging because the actions of one agent can significantly influence the actions of others. Therefore, anticipating the partner's actions is crucial. By inferring beliefs, intentions, and desires, we can develop cooperative robots that learn to assist humans or other robots effectively. In this project we are in particular interested in estimating human intentions to enable collaborative tasks between humans and robots such as human-to-robot and robot-to-human handovers.

Contact pia.bideau@inria.fr The thesis will be jointly supervised by Pia Bideau (THOTH), Karteek Alahari (THOTH) and Xavier Alameda Pineda (RobotLearn).

Redmond, Washington, United States

Overview In Mixed Reality, people—not devices—are at the center of everything we do. Our tech moves beyond screens and pixels, creating a new reality aimed at bringing us closer together—whether that’s scientists “meeting” on the surface of a virtual Mars or some yet undreamt-of possibility. To get there, we’re incorporating diverse groundbreaking technologies, from the revolutionary Holographic Processing Unit to computer vision, machine learning, human-computer interaction, and more. We’re a growing team of talented engineers and artists putting technology on a human path across all Windows devices, including Microsoft HoloLens, the Internet of Things, phones, tablets, desktops, and Xbox. We believe there is a better way. If you do too, we need you! 

You are drawn to work on the latest and most innovative products in the world. You seek projects that will transform how people interact with technology. You have a drive to grow your skillset by finding unique challenges that have yet to be solved. We are looking for Senior Software Engineer to come and join us in delivering the next wave of holographic experiences in an exciting new project. 

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

In alignment with our Microsoft values, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive work environment for all employees to positively impact our culture every day.

Responsibilities Incorporate the latest Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Vision and Sensor Fusion capabilities into the design of our Products and Services Characterize various sensors like inertial measurement units, magnetometers, visual light cameras, depth cameras, GPS etc. to understand their properties and how they relate to the accuracy of tracking, mapping, and localization. Implement and design innovative measurement solutions to quantify the accuracy and reliability of Mixed Reality devices against industry gold standard ground-truth systems Partner with engineers, designers, and program managers to deliver solid technical designs. Embody our Culture and Values

Location Seattle, WA Arlington, VA New York, NY San Francisco, CA

Description Join us at the cutting edge of Amazon's sustainability initiatives to work on environmental and social advancements to support Amazon's long term worldwide sustainability strategy. At Amazon, we're working to be the most customer-centric company on earth. To get there, we need exceptionally talented, bright, and driven people.

The Worldwide Sustainability (WWS) organization capitalizes on Amazon’s scale & speed to build a more resilient and sustainable company. We manage our social and environmental impacts globally, driving solutions that enable our customers, businesses, and the world around us to become more sustainable.

Sustainability Science and Innovation (SSI) is a multi-disciplinary team within the WW Sustainability organization that combines science, analytics, economics, statistics, machine learning, product development, and engineering expertise. We use this expertise and skills to identify, develop and evaluate the science and innovations necessary for Amazon, customers and partners to meet their long-term sustainability goals and commitments.

We’re seeking a Senior Principal Scientist for Sustainability and Climate AI to drive technical strategy and innovation for our long-term sustainability and climate commitments through AI & ML. You will serve as the strategic technical advisor to science, emerging tech, and climate pledge partners operating at the Director, VPs, and SVP level. You will set the next generation modeling standards for the team and tackle the most immature/complex modeling problems following the latest sustainability/climate sciences. Staying hyper current with emergent sustainability/climate science and machine learning trends, you'll be trusted to translate recommendations to leadership and be the voice of our interpretation. You will nurture a continuous delivery culture to embed informed, science-based decision-making into existing mechanisms, such as decarbonization strategies, ESG compliance, and risk management. You will also have the opportunity to collaborate with the Climate Pledge team to define strategies based on emergent science/tech trends and influence investment strategy. As a leader on this team, you'll play a key role in worldwide sustainability organizational planning, hiring, mentorship and leadership development.

If you see yourself as a thought leader and innovator at the intersection of climate science and tech, we’d like to connect with you.

Location Madrid, ESP

Description At Amazon, we are committed to being the Earth’s most customer-centric company. The International Technology group (InTech) owns the enhancement and delivery of Amazon’s cutting-edge engineering to all the varied customers and cultures of the world. We do this through a combination of partnerships with other Amazon technical teams and our own innovative new projects.

You will be joining the Tools and Machine learning (Tamale) team. As part of InTech, Tamale strives to solve complex catalog quality problems using challenging machine learning and data analysis solutions. You will be exposed to cutting edge big data and machine learning technologies, along to all Amazon catalog technology stack, and you'll be part of a key effort to improve our customers experience by tackling and preventing defects in items in Amazon's catalog.

We are looking for a passionate, talented, and inventive Scientist with a strong machine learning background to help build industry-leading machine learning solutions. We strongly value your hard work and obsession to solve complex problems on behalf of Amazon customers.

Location Multiple Locations

Description

Qualcomm's Multimedia R&D and Standards Group is seeking candidates for Video Compression Research Engineer positions. You will be part of world-renowned team of video compression experts. The team develops algorithms, hardware architectures, and systems for state-of-the-art applications of classical and machine learning methods in video compression, video processing, point cloud coding and processing, AR/VR and computer vision use cases. The successful candidate for this position will be a highly self-directed individual with strong creative and analytic skills and a passion for video compression technology. You will work on, but not be limited to, developing new applications of classical and machine learning methods in video compression improving state-of-the-art video codecs.

We are considering candidates with various levels of experience. We are flexible on location and open to hiring anywhere, preferred locations are USA, Germany and Taiwan.

Responsibilities: Contribute to the conception, development, implementation, and optimization of new algorithms extending existing techniques and systems allowing improved video compression. Initiate ideas, design and implement algorithms for superior hardware encoder performance, including perceptually based bit allocation. Develop new algorithms for deep learning-based video compression solutions. Represent Qualcomm in the related standardization forums: JVET, MPEG Video, and ITU-T/VCEG. Document and present new algorithms and implementations in various forms, including standards contributions, patent applications, conference and journal publications, presentations, etc. Ideal candidate would have the skills/experience below: Expert knowledge of the theory, algorithms, and techniques used in video and image coding. Knowledge and experience of video codecs and their test models, such as ECM, VVC, HEVC and AV1. Experience with deep learning structures CNN, RNN, autoencoder etc. and frameworks like TensorFlow/PyTorch. Track record of successful research accomplishments demonstrated through published papers, and/or patent applications in the fields of video coding or video processing. Solid programming and debugging skills in C/C++. Strong written and verbal English communication skills, great work ethic, and ability to work in a team environment to accomplish common goals. PhD or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics or similar field, or equivalent practical experience.

Qualifications: PhD or Masters degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, Mathematics, or similar fields. 1+ years of experience with programming language such as C, C++, MATLAB, etc.

Location Amsterdam, Netherlands

Description

At Qualcomm AI Research, we are advancing AI to make its core capabilities – perception, reasoning, and action – ubiquitous across devices. Our mission is to make breakthroughs in fundamental AI research and scale them across industries. By bringing together some of the best minds in the field, we’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and shaping the future of AI.

As Principal Machine Learning Researcher at Qualcomm, you conduct innovative research in machine learning, deep learning, and AI that advances the state-of-the-art. · You develop and quickly iterate on innovative research ideas, and prototype and implement them in collaboration with other researchers and engineers. · You are on top of and actively shaping the latest research in the field and publish papers at top scientific conferences. · You help define and shape our research vision and planning within and across teams and are passionate at execution. · You engage with leads and stakeholders across business units on how to translate research progress into business impact. · You work in one or more of the following research areas: Generative AI, foundation models (LLMs, LVMs), reinforcement learning, neural network efficiency (e.g., quantization, conditional computation, efficient HW), on-device learning and personalization, and foundational AI research.

Working at Qualcomm means being part of a global company (headquartered in San Diego) that fosters a diverse workforce and puts emphasis on the learning opportunities and professional development of its employees. You will work closely with researchers that have published at major conferences, work on campus at the University of Amsterdam, where you have the opportunity to collaborate with academic researchers through university partnerships such as the QUVA lab, and live in a scenic, vibrant city with a healthy work/life balance and a diversity of cultural activities. In addition, you can join plenty of mentorship, learning, peer, and affinity group opportunities within the company. In this way you can easily develop personal and professional skills in your areas of interest. You’re empowered to start your own initiatives and, in doing so, collaborate with colleagues in offices across teams and countries.

Minimum qualifications: · PhD or Master’s degree in Machine Learning, Computer Vision, Physics, Mathematics, Electrical engineering or similar field, or equivalent practical experience. · 8+ years of experience in machine learning and AI, and experience in working in an academic or industry research lab. · Strong drive to continuously improve beyond the status quo in translating new ideas into innovative solutions. · Track record of scientific leadership by having published impactful work at major conferences in machine learning, computer vision, or NLP (e.g., NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR, ICCV, ACL, EMNLP, NAACL, etc.). · Programming experience in Python and experience with standard deep learning toolkits.

Preferred qualifications: · Hands-on experience with foundation models (LLMs, LVMs) and reinforcement learning. · Proven experience in technology and team leadership, and experience with cross-functional stakeholder engagements. · Experience in writing clean and maintainable code for research-internal use (no product development). · Aptitude for guiding and mentoring more junior researchers.

Figma is growing our team of passionate people on a mission to make design accessible to all. Born on the Web, Figma helps entire product teams brainstorm, design and build better products — from start to finish. Whether it’s consolidating tools, simplifying workflows, or collaborating across teams and time zones, Figma makes the design process faster, more efficient, and fun while keeping everyone on the same page. From great products to long-lasting companies, we believe that nothing great is made alone—come make with us!

The AI Platform team at Figma is working on an exciting mission of expanding the frontiers of AI for creativity, and developing magical experiences in Figma products. This involves making existing features like search smarter, and incorporating new features using cutting edge Generative AI and deep learning techniques. We’re looking for engineers with a background in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence to improve our products and build new capabilities. You will be driving fundamental and applied research in this area. You will be combining industry best practices and a first-principles approach to design and build ML models that will improve Figma’s design and collaboration tool.

What you’ll do at Figma:

• Driving fundamental and applied research in ML/AI using Generative AI, deep learning and classical machine learning, with Figma product use cases in mind.
• Formulate and implement new modeling approaches both to improve the effectiveness of Figma’s current models as well as enable the launch of entirely new AI-powered product features.
• Work in concert with other ML researchers, as well as product and infrastructure engineers to productionize new models and systems to power features in Figma’s design and collaboration tool.
• Expand the boundaries of what is possible with the current technology set and experiment with novel ideas.
• Publish scientific work on problems relevant to Figma in leading conferences like ICML, NeurIPS, CVPR etc.

We'd love to hear from you if you have:

• Recently obtained or is in the process of obtaining a PhD in AI, Computer Science or a related field. Degree must be completed prior to starting at Figma.
• Demonstrated expertise in machine learning with a publication record in relevant conferences, or a track record in applying machine learning techniques to products.
• Experience in Python and machine learning frameworks (such as PyTorch, TensorFlow or JAX).
• Experience building systems based on deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, and/or generative models.
• Experience solving sophisticated problems and comparing alternative solutions, trade-offs, and diverse points of view to determine a path forward.
• Experience communicating and working across functions to drive solutions.

While not required, it’s an added plus if you also have:

• Experience working in industry on relevant AI projects through internships or past full time work.
• Publications in recent advances in AI like Large language models (LLMs), Vision language Models (VLMs) or diffusion models.

Excited to see you at CVPR! We’ll be at booth 1404. Come see us to talk more about roles.

Our team consists of people with diverse software and academic experiences. We work together towards one common goal: integrating the software, you'll help us build into hundreds of millions of vehicles.

As the MLE, you will collaborate with researchers to perform research operations using existing infrastructure. You will use your judgment in complex scenarios and help apply standard techniques to various technical problems. Specifically, you will:

• Characterize neural network quality, failure modes, and edge cases based on research data
• Maintain awareness of current trends in relevant areas of research and technology
• Coordinate with researchers and accurately convey the status of experiments
• Manage a large number of concurrent experiments and make accurate time estimates for deadlines
• Review experimental results and suggest theoretical or process improvements for future iterations
• Write technical reports indicating qualitative and quantitative results to external parties

Location Mountain View, CA

Gatik is thrilled to be at CVPR! Come meet our team at booth 1831 to talk about how you could make an impact at the autonomous middle mile logistics company redefining the transportation landscape.

Who we are: Gatik, the leader in autonomous middle mile logistics, delivers goods safely and efficiently using its fleet of light & medium-duty trucks. The company focuses on short-haul, B2B logistics for Fortune 500 customers including Kroger, Walmart, Tyson Foods, Loblaw, Pitney Bowes, Georgia-Pacific, and KBX; enabling them to optimize their hub-and-spoke supply chain operations, enhance service levels and product flow across multiple locations while reducing labor costs and meeting an unprecedented expectation for faster deliveries. Gatik’s Class 3-7 autonomous box trucks are commercially deployed in multiple markets including Texas, Arkansas, and Ontario, Canada.

About the role:

We're currently looking for a tech lead with specialized skills in LiDAR, camera, and radar perception technologies to enhance our autonomous driving systems' ability to understand and interact with complex environments. In this pivotal role, you'll be instrumental in designing and refining the ML algorithms that enable our trucks to safely navigate and operate in complex, dynamic environments. You will collaborate with a team of experts in AI, robotics, and software engineering to push the boundaries of what's possible in autonomous trucking.

What you'll do: - Design and implement cutting-edge perception algorithms for autonomous vehicles, focusing on areas such as sensor fusion, 3D object detection, segmentation, and tracking in complex dynamic environments - Design and implement ML models for real-time perception tasks, leveraging deep neural networks to enhance the perception capabilities of self-driving trucks - Lead initiatives to collect, augment, and utilize large-scale datasets for training and validating perception models under various driving conditions - Develop robust testing and validation frameworks to ensure the reliability and safety of the perception systems across diverse scenarios and edge cases - Conduct field tests and simulations to validate and refine perception algorithms, ensuring robust performance in real-world trucking routes and conditions - Work closely with the data engineering team to build and maintain large-scale datasets for training and evaluating perception models, including the development of data augmentation techniques

**Please click on the Apply link below to see the full job description and apply.

As a systems engineer for perception safety, your primary responsibility will be to define and ensure the safety performance of the perception system. You will be working in close collaboration with perception algorithm and sensor hardware development teams.

Redmond, Washington, United States

Overview Within AI Platform, the Cognitive Services team empowers developers and data scientists around the world and of all skill levels to easily add AI capabilities to their apps. #aiplatform

We are looking for a Research Scientist with a background in Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing and/or Artificial Intelligence, including topics like layout analysis, chart understanding, multi-page multi-document question answering, novel ways of leveraging large language models for document understanding and solving problems inherent to large language models (grounding, retrieval-based generation, etc.). Familiarity with modern large language models is a plus, but not required.

Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. As employees we come together with a growth mindset, innovate to empower others, and collaborate to realize our shared goals. Each day we build on our values of respect, integrity, and accountability to create a culture of inclusion where everyone can thrive at work and beyond.

Responsibilities Your responsibilities will include:

Conduct pioneering research to propel the state-of-the-art in various tasks in document understanding. Work closely with fellow Research Scientists and Product Engineering teams to translate research outcomes into practical solutions. Provide expertise and support to the engineering team on various challenges, fostering collaboration between research and practical application. Take charge of the research agenda from problem definition to algorithm and model development.

Location New York, NY Seattle, WA Boston, MA

Description Climate Pledge Friendly helps customers discover and shop for products that are more sustainable. We partner with trusted sustainability certifications to highlight products that meet strict standards and help preserve the natural world. By shifting customer demand towards more sustainable products, we incentivize selling partners to build better selection, creating a virtuous cycle that yields significant environmental benefit at scale.

We are seeking a Senior Applied Scientist who is not just adept in the theoretical aspects of Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Large Language Models (LLMs) but also possesses a pragmatic, hands-on approach to navigating the complexities of innovation. You will take the lead in conceptualizing, building, and launching models that significantly improve our shopping experience. A successful applicant will display a comprehensive skill set across machine learning model development, implementation, and optimization. This includes a strong foundation in data management, software engineering best practices, and a keen awareness of the latest developments in distributed systems technology.

You will work with business leaders, scientists, and engineers to translate business and functional requirements into concrete deliverables, including the design, development, testing, and deployment of highly scalable distributed ML models and services. The types of initiatives you can expect to work on include a) personalized recommendations that help our customers find the right sustainable products on each shopping journey, b) automated solutions that combine ML/LLM and data mining to identify products that align with our sustainability goals and resonate with our customers' values, and c) models to measure the environmental and econometric impacts of sustainable shopping.

Location Niskayuna, NY

Description Job Description Summary At GE Aerospace Research, our team develops advanced embedded systems technology for the future of flight. Our technology will enable sustainable air travel and next generation aviation systems for use in commercial as well as military applications. As a Lead Embedded Software Engineer, you will architect and develop state-of-the-art embedded systems for real-time controls and communication applications. You will lead and contribute to advanced research and development programs for GE Aerospace as well as with U.S. Government Agencies. You will collaborate with fellow researchers from a range of technology disciplines, contributing to projects across the breadth of GE Aerospace programs. Job Description Essential Responsibilities: As a Lead Embedded Software Engineer, you will:

Work independently as well as with a team to develop and apply advanced software technologies for embedded controls and communication systems for GE Aerospace products Interact with hardware suppliers and engineering tool providers to identify the best solutions for the most challenging applications Lead small to medium-sized projects or tasks Be responsible for documenting technology and results through patent applications, technical reports, and publications Expand your expertise staying current with advances in embedded software to seek out new ideas and applications Collaborate in a team environment with colleagues across GE Aerospace and government agencies

Qualifications/Requirements:

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related disciplines with a minimum of 7 years of industry experience OR a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related disciplines with a minimum of 5 years of industry experience OR a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related disciplines with a minimum of 3 years of industry experience. Strong background in software development for embedded systems (e.g., x86, ARM) Strong embedded programming skills such as: C/C++, Python, and Rust Familiarity with CNSA and NIST cryptographic algorithms Willingness to travel at a minimum of 2 weeks per year Ability to obtain and maintain US Government Security Clearance US Citizenship required Must be willing to work out of an office located in Niskayuna, NY You must submit your application for employment on the careers page at www.gecareers.com to be considered Ideal Candidate Characteristics:

Coding experience with Bash, Python, C#, MATLAB, ARMv8 assembly, RISCV assembly Experience with embedded devices from Intel, AMD, Xilinx, NXP, etc. Experience with hardware-based security (e.g., UEFI, TPM, ARM TrustZone, Secure Boot) Understanding of embedded system security requirements and security techniques Experience with Linux OS and Linux security Experience with OpenSSL and/or wolfSSL Experience with wired and wireless networking protocols or network security Knowledge of 802.1, 802.3, and/or 802.11 standards Experience in software defined networks (SDN) and relevant software such as OpenFlow, Open vSwitch, or Mininet Hands-on experience with embedded hardware (such as protoboards) or networking equipment (such as switches and analyzers) in a laboratory setting Experience with embedded development in an RTOS environment (e.g., VxWorks, FreeRTOS) Demonstrated ability to take an innovative idea from a concept to a product Experience with the Agile methodology of program management The base pay range for this position is 90,000 - 175,000 USD Annually. The specific pay offered may be influenced by a variety of factors, including the candidate’s experience, education, and skill set. This position is also eligible for an annual discretionary bonus based on a percentage of your base salary. This posting is expected to close on June 16, 2024

Natick, MA, United States

The Company: Cognex is a global leader in the exciting and growing field of machine vision. This position is a hybrid role in our Natick, MA corporate HQ.

The Team: This position is for an experienced Software Engineer in the Core Vision Technology team at Cognex, focused on architecting and productizing the best-in-class computer vision algorithms and AI models that power Cognex’s industrial barcode readers and 2D vision tools with a mission to innovate on behalf of customers and make this technology accessible to a broad range of users and platforms. Our products combine custom hardware, specialized lighting and optics, and world-class vision algorithms/models to create embedded systems that can find and read high-density symbols on package labels or marked directly on a variety of industrial parts, including aircraft engines, electronics substrates, and pharmaceutical test equipment. Our devices need to read hundreds of codes per second, so speed-optimized hardware and software work together to create best in class technology. Companies around the world rely on Cognex vision tools and technology to guide assembly, automate inspection, and speed up production and distribution.

Job Summary: The Core Vision Technology team is seeking an experienced developer with deep knowledge of the software development life cycle, creative problem solving skills and solid design thinking, with a focus on productization of AI technology on embedded platforms. You will play the critical role of ** a chief architect **, who will lead the development and productization of computer vision AI models and algorithms on multiple Cognex products; with the goal of making the technology modular and available to a broad range of users and platforms. In this role, you will interface with machine vision experts in R&D, product, hardware, and other software engineering teams at Cognex. A successful individual will lead design discussions, make sound architectural choices for the future on different embedded platforms, advocate for engineering excellence, mentor junior engineers and extend technical influence across teams. Prior experience with productization of AI technology is essential for this position.

Essential Functions: -Develop and productize innovative vision algorithms, including AI models developed by the R&D team for detecting and reading challenging 1D and 2D barcodes, and vision tools for gauging, inspection, guiding, and identifying industrial parts. -Lead software and API design discussions and make scalable technology choices meeting current and future business needs.
-More details in the link below

Minimum education and work experience required: MS or PhD from a top engineering school in EE, CS or equivalent 7+ years relevant, high tech work experience

If you would like to meet the hiring manager at CVPR to discuss this opportunity, please email ahmed.elbarkouky@cognex.com

Location Multiple Locations

Description Today, more intelligence is moving to end devices, and mobile is becoming the pervasive AI platform. Building on the smartphone foundation and the scale of mobile, Qualcomm envisions making AI ubiquitous—expanding beyond mobile and powering other end devices, machines, vehicles, and things. We are inventing, developing, and commercializing power-efficient on-device AI, edge cloud AI, and 5G to make this a reality.

Job Purpose & Responsibilities As a member of Qualcomm’s ML Systems Team, you will participate in two activities: Development and evolution of ML/AI compilers (production and exploratory versions) for efficient mappings of ML/AI algorithms on existing and future HW Analysis of ML/AI algorithms and workloads to drive future features in Qualcomm’s ML HW/SW offerings

Key Responsibilities: Contributing to the development and evolution of ML/AI compilers within Qualcomm Defining and implementing algorithms for mapping ML/AI workloads to Qualcomm HW Understanding trends in ML network design, through customer engagements and latest academic research, and how this affects both SW and HW design Creation of performance-driven simulation components (using C++, Python) for analysis and design of high-performance HW/SW algorithms on future SoCs Exploration and analysis of performance/area/power trade-offs for future HW and SW ML algorithms Pre-Silicon prediction of performance for various ML algorithms Running, debugging and analyzing performance simulations to suggest enhancements to Qualcomm hardware and software to tackle compute and system memory-related bottlenecks · Successful applications will work in cross-site, cross-functional teams.

Requirements: Demonstrated ability to learn, think and adapt in fast changing environment Detail-oriented with strong problem-solving, analytical and debugging skills Strong communication skills (written and verbal) Strong background in algorithm development and performance analysis is essential The following experiences would be significant assets: Strong object-oriented design principles Strong knowledge of C++ Strong knowledge of Python Experience in compiler design and development Knowledge of network model formats/platforms (eg. Pytorch, Tensorflow, ONNX) is an asset. On-silicon debug skills of high-performance compute algorithms · Knowledge of algorithms and data structures Knowledge of software development processes (revision control, CD/CI, etc.) · Familiarity with tools such as git, Jenkins, Docker, clang/MSVC Knowledge of computer architecture, digital circuits and event-driven transactional models/simulators