Location Multiple Locations

Description

Members of our team are part of a multi-disciplinary core research group within Qualcomm which spans software, hardware, and systems. Our members contribute technology deployed worldwide by partnering with our business teams across mobile, compute, automotive, cloud, and IOT. We also perform and publish state-of-the-art research on a wide range of topics in machine-learning, ranging from general theory to techniques that enable deployment on resource-constrained devices. Our research team has demonstrated first-in-the-world research and proof-of-concepts in areas such model efficiency, neural video codecs, video semantic segmentation, federated learning, and wireless RF sensing (https://www.qualcomm.com/ai-research), has won major research competitions such as the visual wake word challenge, and converted leading research into best-in-class user-friendly tools such as Qualcomm Innovation Center’s AI Model Efficiency Toolkit (https://github.com/quic/aimet). We recently demonstrated the feasibility of running a foundation model (Stable Diffusion) with >1 billion parameters on an Android phone under one second after performing our full-stack AI optimizations on the model.

Role responsibility can include both, applied and fundamental research in the field of machine learning with development focus in one or many of the following areas:

• Conducts fundamental machine learning research to create new models or new training methods in various technology areas, e.g. large language models, deep generative models (VAE, Normalizing-Flow, ARM, etc), Bayesian deep learning, equivariant CNNs, adversarial learning, diffusion models, active learning, Bayesian optimizations, unsupervised learning, and ML combinatorial optimization using tools like graph neural networks, learned message-passing heuristics, and reinforcement learning.

• Drives systems innovations for model efficiency advancement on device as well as in the cloud. This includes auto-ML methods (model-based, sampling based, back-propagation based) for model compression, quantization, architecture search, and kernel/graph compiler/scheduling with or without systems-hardware co-design.

• Performs advanced platform research to enable new machine learning compute paradigms, e.g., compute in memory, on-device learning/training, edge-cloud distributed/federated learning, causal and language-based reasoning.

• Creates new machine learning models for advanced use cases that achieve state-of-the-art performance and beyond. The use cases can broadly include computer vision, audio, speech, NLP, image, video, power management, wireless, graphics, and chip design

• Design, develop & test software for machine learning frameworks that optimize models to run efficiently on edge devices. Candidate is expected to have strong interest and deep passion on making leading-edge deep learning algorithms work on mobile/embedded platforms for the benefit of end users.

• Research, design, develop, enhance, and implement different components of machine learning compiler for HW Accelerators.

• Design, implement and train DL/RL algorithms in high-level languages/frameworks (PyTorch and TensorFlow).

Location Mountain View, CA

Description 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 are seeking passionate Senior/Staff Software Engineers, who have strong fundamentals in software development practices and are experts in C++ language in production-oriented environment. The ideal candidate is a highly experienced C++ developer with a passion for enabling the world's first safe, reliable & efficient network of autonomous vehicles. You will partner with the research and software engineers to design, develop, test and validate AV features for our autonomous fleet.

This role will be onsite at our Mountain View office.

What you'll do: +Design, implement, integrate, and support real-time mission-critical software for the Gatik’s autonomy stack +Work with the research engineers to develop maintainable, testable and robust software designs +Architect and implement solutions to complex issues between components partitioned across the large software stack +Be at the forefront of guiding & ensuring best SDLC practices while contributing to improving the safety in the core autonomy stack +Collaborate with the Infrastructure and DevOps teams for efficient, secure and scalable software delivery to a network of Gatik’s autonomous fleet
+Guide and mentor autonomy researchers and algorithm developers to make sure their components are running efficiently and with optimal compute and memory usage +Review and refine technical requirements and translate them into high-level design & plans to support the development of safe AV technology +Conduct code and design reviews and advise on technical matters

Click the apply button below to see the full job description and apply

※Location※ South Korea Seoul / Pangyo

※Description※ 1) Deep learning compression and optimization - Development of algorithms for compression and optimization of deep learning networks - Perform deep learning network embedding (requires understanding of HW platform)

2) AD vision recognition SW - Development of deep learning recognition technology based on sensors such as cameras - Development of pre- and post-processing algorithms and function output - Development of optimization of image recognition algorithm

3) AD decision/control SW - Development of information-based map generation technology recognized by many vehicles - Development of learning-based nearby object behavior prediction model - Development of driving mode determination and collision prevention function of Lv 3 autonomous driving system

Seattle, WA; Costa Mesa, CA; Boston, MA

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

THE ROLE We build Lattice, the foundation for everything we do as a defense technology company. Our engineers are talented and hard-working, motivated to see their work rapidly deployed on the front lines. Our team is not just building an experiment in waiting, we deploy what we build on the Southern border, Iraq, Ukraine and more.

We have open roles across Platform Engineering, ranging from core infrastructure to distributed systems, web development, networking and more. We hire self-motivated people, those who hold a higher bar for themselves than anyone else could hold for them. If you love building infrastructure, platform services, or just working in high performing engineering cultures we invite you to apply!

YOU SHOULD APPLY IF YOU: -At least 3+ years working with a variety of programming languages such as Rust, Go, C++, Java, Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, etc. -Have experience working with customers to deliver novel software capabilities -Want to work on building and integrating model/software/hardware-in-the-loop components by leveraging first and third party technologies (related to simulation, data management, compute infrastructure, networking, and more). -Love building platform and infrastructure tooling that enables other software engineers to scale their output -Enjoy collaborating with team members and partners in the autonomy domain, and building technologies and processes which enable users to safely and rapidly develop and deploy autonomous systems at scale. -Are a U.S. Person because of required access to U.S. export controlled information

Note: The above bullet points describe the ideal candidate. None of us matched all of these at once when we first joined Anduril. We encourage you to apply even if you believe you meet only part of our wish list.

NICE TO HAVE -You've built or invented something: an app, a website, game, startup -Previous experience working in an engineering setting: a startup (or startup-like environment), engineering school, etc. If you've succeeded in a low structure, high autonomy environment you'll succeed here! -Professional software development lifecycle experience using tools such as version control, CICD systems, etc. -A deep, demonstrated understanding of how computers and networks work, from a single desktop to a multi-cluster cloud node -Experience building scalable backend software systems with various data storage and processing requirements -Experience with industry standard cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), CI/CD tools, and software infrastructure fundamentals (networking, security, distributed systems) -Ability to quickly understand and navigate complex systems and established code bases -Experience implementing robot or autonomous vehicle testing frameworks in a software-in-the-loop or hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) environment -Experience with modern build and deployment tooling (e.g. NixOS, Terraform) -Experience designing complex software systems, and iterating upon designs via a technical design review process -Familiarity with industry standard monitoring, logging, and data management tools and best practices -A bias towards rapid delivery and iteration

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Overview Microsoft Research (MSR), a leading industrial research laboratory comprised of over 1,000 computer scientists working across the United States, United Kingdom, China, India, Canada, and the Netherlands.

We are currently seeking  a Researcher in the area of  Artificial Specialized Intelligence located in Vancouver, British Columbia, with a keen interest in developing cutting-edge large foundation models and post-training techniques for different domains and scenarios. This is an opportunity to drive an ambitious research agenda while collaborating with diverse teams to push for novel applications of those areas.  
  Over the past 30 years, our scientists have not only conducted world-class computer science research but also integrated advanced technologies into our products and services, positively impacting millions of lives and propelling Microsoft to the forefront of digital transformation.   Responsibilities Conduct cutting-edge research in large foundation models, focusing on applying large foundation models in specific domain. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate solutions into Artificial Intelligence (AI) -driven system. Develop and maintain research prototypes and software tools, ensuring that they are well-documented and adhere to best practices in software development. Publish research findings in top-tier conferences and journals and present your work at industry events. Collaborate with other AI researchers and engineers, sharing knowledge and expertise to foster a culture of innovation and continuous learning within the team.

Vancouver

Who we are Established in 2017, Wayve is a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, driven by breakthroughs in Embodied AI. Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic technologies empower vehicles to navigate complex environments effortlessly.

Supported by prominent investors, Wayve is advancing the transition from assisted to fully automated driving, making transportation safer, more efficient, and universally accessible. Join our world-class, multinational team of engineers and researchers as we push the boundaries of frontier AI and autonomous driving, creating impactful technologies and products on a global scale

Where you will have an impact We are seeking an experienced researcher to be a founding member of our Vancouver team! We are prioritising someone with experience actively participating in AI projects applied to autonomous driving or similar robotics or decision-making domains, inclusive, but not limited to the following specific areas:

Foundation models for robotics or embodied AI Model-free and model-based reinforcement learning Offline reinforcement learning Large language models Planning with learned models, model predictive control and tree search Imitation learning, inverse reinforcement learning and causal inference Learned agent models: behavioural and physical models of cars, people, and other dynamic agents Challenges you will own You'll be working on some of the world's hardest problems, and able to attack them in new ways. You'll be a key member of our diverse, cross-disciplinary team, helping teach our robots how to drive safely and comfortably in complex real-world environments. This encompasses many aspects of research across perception, prediction, planning, and control, including:

How to leverage our large, rich, and diverse sources of real-world driving data How to architect our models to best employ the latest advances in foundation models, transformers, world models, etc, evaluating and incorporating state-of-the-art techniques into our workflows. Which learning algorithms to use (e.g. reinforcement learning, behavioural cloning) How to leverage simulation for controlled experimental insight, training data augmentation, and re-simulation How to scale models efficiently across data, model size, and compute, while maintaining efficient deployment on the car Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate research findings into scalable, production-level solutions. You also have the potential to contribute to academic publications for top-tier conferences like NeurIPS, CVPR, ICRA, ICLR, CoRL etc. working in a world-class team, contributing to the scientific community and establishing Wayve as a leader in the field.

What you will bring to Wayve Proven track record of research in one or more of the topics above demonstrated through deployed applications or publications. Strong programming skills in Python, with experience in deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch, numpy, pandas, etc. Experience bringing a machine learning research concept through the full ML development cycle Excellent problem-solving skills and the ability to work independently as well as in a team environment. Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, innovative, interdisciplinary team environment. Desirable: Experience bringing an ML research concept through to production and at scale PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field

What we offer you The chance to be part of a truly mission driven organisation and an opportunity to shape the future of autonomous driving. Unlike our competitors, Wayve is still relatively small and nimble, giving you the chance to make a huge impact Competitive compensation and benefits A dynamic and fast-paced work environment in which you will grow every day - learning on the job, from the brightest minds in our space, and with support for more formal learning opportunities too

Captions is the AI-powered creative studio. Millions of creators around the world have used Captions to make their video content stand out from the pack and we're on a mission to empower the next billion.

Based in NYC, we are a team of ambitious, experienced, and devoted engineers, designers, and marketers. You'll be joining an early team where you'll have an outsized impact on both the product and company's culture.

We’re very fortunate to have some the best investors and entrepreneurs backing us, including Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Uncommon Projects, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, Antoine Martin, Julie Zhuo, Ben Rubin, Jaren Glover, SVAngel, 20VC, Ludlow Ventures, Chapter One, Lenny Rachitsky, and more.

Check out our latest milestone and our recent feature on the TODAY show and the New York Times.

** Please note that all of our roles will require you to be in-person at our NYC HQ (located in Union Square) **

Responsibilities:

Conduct research and develop models to advance the state-of-the-art in generative video technologies, focusing on areas such as video in-painting, super resolution, text-to-video conversion, background removal, and neural background rendering.

Design and develop advanced neural network models tailored for generative video applications, exploring innovative techniques to manipulate and enhance video content for storytelling purposes.

Explore new areas and techniques to enhance video storytelling, including research into novel generative approaches and their applications in video production and editing.

Create tools and systems that leverage machine learning, artificial intelligence, and computational techniques to generate, manipulate, and enhance video content, with a focus on usability and scalability.

Preferred Qualifications:

PhD in computer science or related field or 3+ years of industry experience.

Publication Record: Highly relevant publication history, with a focus on generative video techniques and applications. Ideal candidates will have served as the primary author on these publications.

Video Processing Skills: Strong understanding of video processing techniques, including video compression, motion estimation, and object tracking, with the ability to apply these techniques in generative video applications.

Expertise in Deep Learning: Proficiency in deep learning frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or similar, with hands-on experience in designing, training, and deploying neural networks for video-related tasks.

Strong understanding of Computer Science fundamentals (algorithms and data structures).

Benefits: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision plans

Anything you need to do your best work

We’ve done team off-sites to places like Paris, London, Park City, Los Angeles, Upstate NY, and Nashville with more planned in the future.

Captions provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

Please note benefits apply to full time employees only.

Location Sunnyvale, CA Bellevue, WA Seattle, WA

Description The Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) team is looking for a passionate, talented, and inventive Applied Science Manager with a strong deep learning background, to lead the development of industry-leading technology with multimodal systems.

As an Applied Science Manager with the AGI team, you will lead the development of novel algorithms and modeling techniques to advance the state of the art with multimodal systems. Your work will directly impact our customers in the form of products and services that make use of vision and language technology. You will leverage Amazon’s heterogeneous data sources and large-scale computing resources to accelerate development with multimodal Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in Computer Vision.

Location Seattle, WA

Description Futures Design is the advanced concept design and incubation team within Amazon’s Device and Services Design Group (DDG). We are responsible for exploring and defining think (very) big opportunities globally and locally — so that we can better understand how new products and services might enrich the lives of our customers and so that product teams and leaders can align on where we're going and why we're going there. We focus on a 3–10+ year time frame, with the runway to invent and design category-defining products and transformational customer experiences. Working with Amazon business and technology partners, we use research, design, and prototyping to guide early product development, bring greater clarity to engineering goals, and develop a UX-grounded point of view.

We're looking for a Principal Design Technologist to join the growing DDG Futures Design team. You thrive in ambiguity and paradigm shifts– remaking assumptions of how customers engage, devices operate, and builders create. You apply deep expertise that spans design, technology, and product, grounding state-of-the-art emerging technologies through storytelling and a maker mindset. You learn and adapt technology trends to enduring customer problems through customer empathy, code, and iterative experimentation.

You will wear multiple hats to quickly assimilate customer problems, convert them to hypotheses, and test them using efficient technologies and design methods to build stakeholder buy-in. You’ll help your peers unlock challenging scenarios and mature the design studio’s ability to deliver design at scale across a breadth of devices and interaction modalities. You will work around limitations and push capabilities through your work. Your curiosity will inspire those around you and facilitate team growth, while your hands-on, collaborative nature will build trust with your peers and studio partners.

Redmond, Washington, United States

Overview We are seeking a Principal Research Engineer to join our organization and help improve steerability and control Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI systems. Our team currently develops Guidance, a fully open-source project that enables developers to control language models more precisely and efficiently with constrained decoding.

As a Principal Research Engineer, you will play a crucial role in advancing the frontier of constrained decoding and imagining new application programming interface (APIs) for language models. If you’re excited about links between formal grammars and generative AI, deeply understanding and optimizing LLM inference, enabling more responsible AI without finetuning and RLHF, and/or exploring fundamental changes to the “text-in, text-out” API, we’d love to hear from you. Our team offers a vibrant environment for cutting-edge, multidisciplinary research. We have a long track record of open-source code and open publication policies, and you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with world-leading experts across Microsoft and top academic institutions across the world.

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 Develop and implement new constrained decoding research techniques for increasing LLM inference quality and/or efficiency. Example areas of interest include speculative execution, new decoding strategies (e.g. extensions to beam search), “classifier in the loop” decoding for responsible AI, improving AI planning, and explorations of attention-masking based constraints. Re-imagine the use and construction of context-free grammars (CFG) and beyond to fit Generative AI. Examples of improvements here include better tools for constructing formal grammars, extensions to Earley parsing, and efficient batch processing for constrained generation. Consideration of how these techniques are presented to developers – who may not be well versed in grammars and constrained generation -- in an intuitive, idiomatic programming syntax is also top of mind. Design principled evaluation frameworks and benchmarks for measuring the effects of constrained decoding on a model. Some areas of interest to study carefully include efficiency (token throughput and latency), generation quality, and impacts of constrained decoding on AI safety. Publish your research in top AI conferences and contribute your research advances to the guidance open-source project. Other

Embody our Culture and Values

Location San Francisco, CA

Description Amazon Music is an immersive audio entertainment service that deepens connections between fans, artists, and creators. From personalized music playlists to exclusive podcasts, concert livestreams to artist merch, Amazon Music is innovating at some of the most exciting intersections of music and culture. We offer experiences that serve all listeners with our different tiers of service: Prime members get access to all the music in shuffle mode, and top ad-free podcasts, included with their membership; customers can upgrade to Amazon Music Unlimited for unlimited, on-demand access to 100 million songs, including millions in HD, Ultra HD, and spatial audio; and anyone can listen for free by downloading the Amazon Music app or via Alexa-enabled devices. Join us for the opportunity to influence how Amazon Music engages fans, artists, and creators on a global scale.

You will be managing a team within the Music Machine Learning and Personalization organization that is responsible for developing, training, serving and iterating on models used for personalized candidate generation for both Music and Podcasts.

Vancouver

Who we are Established in 2017, Wayve is a leader in autonomous vehicle technology, driven by breakthroughs in Embodied AI. Our intelligent, mapless, and hardware-agnostic technologies empower vehicles to navigate complex environments effortlessly.

Supported by prominent investors, Wayve is advancing the transition from assisted to fully automated driving, making transportation safer, more efficient, and universally accessible. Join our world-class, multinational team of engineers and researchers as we push the boundaries of frontier AI and autonomous driving, creating impactful technologies and products on a global scale

Where you will have an impact Science is the team that is advancing our end-to-end autonomous driving research. The team’s mission is to accelerate our journey to AV2.0 and ensure the future success of Wayve by incubating and investing in new ideas that have the potential to become game-changing technological advances for the company.

As the first Research Manager in our Vancouver office, you will be responsible for managing & scaling a strong Science team in collaboration with other Wayve science teams in London and Mountain View. You will provide coaching and guidance to each of the researchers and engineers within your team and work with leaders across the company to ensure sustainable career growth for your team during a period of growth in the company. You will participate in our project-based operating model where your focus will be unlocking the potential of your team and its technical leaders to drive industry-leading impact. As part of your work, you will help identify the right projects to invest in, ensure the right allocation of resources to those projects, keep the team in good health, provide technical feedback to your team, share progress to build momentum, and build alignment and strong collaboration across the wider Science organisation. We are actively hiring and aim to substantially grow our research team over the next two years and you will be at the heart of this.

Challenges you will own Work closely with team members to develop career plans and growth trajectories based on each individual’s strengths and weaknesses and their own aspirations. Work closely with project leads to ensure team members are having strong impact and are set up for success. Work closely with project leads and Science leadership to ensure projects are resourced in a way that balances the needs of the business with the needs of the individuals. Offer coaching and technical mentorship to direct reports (especially project leads). Bring technical & project management expertise and experience to help accelerate our progress and decision-making. Challenge the status quo (both technical and organisational/process). Prioritize effectively and keep processes lean and effective. Partner with leadership to maintain a culture of cross-boundary collaboration, impact, innovation, and health. Grow the team as a hiring manager, to bring in complementary, diverse skill sets and backgrounds. Anticipate the needs of the business 6-24 months out, identify areas where additional resources are needed or we need to grow new domain expertise, and pitch this to leadership for investment. Contribute to the day-to-day running of the Science team’s operations and larger collaborative efforts.

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

Seattle, WA or Costa Mesa, CA

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company with a mission to transform U.S. and allied military capabilities with advanced technology. By bringing the expertise, technology, and business model of the 21st century’s most innovative companies to the defense industry, Anduril is changing how military systems are designed, built and sold. Anduril’s family of systems is powered by Lattice OS, an AI-powered operating system that turns thousands of data streams into a realtime, 3D command and control center. As the world enters an era of strategic competition, Anduril is committed to bringing cutting-edge autonomy, AI, computer vision, sensor fusion, and networking technology to the military in months, not years.

The Vehicle Autonomy (Robotics) team at Anduril develops aerial and ground-based robotic systems. The team is responsible for taking products like Ghost, Anvil, and our Sentry Tower from paper sketches to operational systems. We work in close coordination with specialist teams like Perception, Autonomy, and Manufacturing to solve some of the hardest problems facing our customers. We are looking for software engineers and roboticists excited about creating a powerful robotics stack that includes computer vision, motion planning, SLAM, controls, estimation, and secure communications.

WHAT YOU'LL DO -Write and maintain core libraries (frame transformations, targeting and guidance, etc.) that all robotics platforms at Anduril will use -Own feature development and rollout for our products - recent examples include: building a Software-in-the-Loop simulator for our Tower product, writing an autofocus control system for cameras, creating a distributed over IPC coordinate frame library, redesigning the Pan-Tilt controls to accurately move heavy loads -Design, evaluate, and implement sensor integrations that support operation by both human and autonomous planning agents -Work closely with our hardware and manufacturing teams during product development, providing quick feedback that contributes to the final hardware design

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS -Strong engineering background from industry or school, ideally in areas/fields such as Robotics, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Mechatronics, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics -5+ years of C++ or Rust experience in a Linux development environment -Experience building software solutions involving significant amounts of data processing and analysis -Ability to quickly understand and navigate complex systems and established code bases -Must be eligible to obtain and hold a US DoD Security Clearance.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS -Experience in one or more of the following: motion planning, perception, localization, mapping, controls, and related system performance metrics. -Understanding of systems software (kernel, device drivers, system calls) and performance analysis