Image Quality Metric (IQM) Research Engineer (Contractor)

About Huawei Research and Development UK Limited

Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have 207,000 employees and operate in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

Our vision and mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. To this end, we will drive ubiquitous connectivity and promote equal access to networks; bring cloud and artificial intelligence to all four corners of the earth to provide superior computing power where you need it, when you need it; build digital platforms to help all industries and organizations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; redefine user experience with AI, making it more personalized for people in all aspects of their life, whether they’re at home, in the office, or on the go.

This spirit of innovation has led Huawei to work in close partnership with leading academic institutions in the UK to develop and refine the latest technologies. With a shared commitment to innovation and progress, both parties have worked together to achieve common goals and establish a strong partnership. The partnership between UK and Huawei help to develop the technologies of the future that will transform the way we all communicate, work and live.

For the past 30 years we have maintained an unwavering focus, rejecting shortcuts and easy opportunities that don\’t align with our core business. With a practical approach to everything we do, we concentrate our efforts and invest patiently to drive technological breakthroughs.

This strategic focus is a reflection of our core values:

• staying customer-centric,
• inspiring dedication,
• persevering,
• Growing by reflection

Huawei Research and Development UK Limited Overview

Huawei’s vision is a fully connected, intelligent world. To achieve this, we work to inspire passion for basic research around the world. Our combined passion drives development across the global innovation value chain. Huawei has the largest Research and Development organization in the world with 96,000+ employees in research centers around the globe. In the UK, we already have design centers in Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and Ipswich. We continue to explore and define new research directions and new services. We have expanded our collaborations with academic researchers; researched new network architectures, integration of communications and key enabling technologies; and developed the fundamental theories of these technologies. We invite you to join us on this exciting journey and drive your career forward.

Job Summary

The role is primarily image and video processing algorithmic research based, with occasional involvement is other areas.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop image processing related algorithms for video and image quality metrics in the areas of camera denoising, image fusion, image registration, deghosting, demosaicing, HDR, colour and tone processing, video stability, super resolution etc. This would include both AI and classical based techniques.
• Research and develop, new Picture Quality metrics for many different types of distortions (such as dither, flickering, contrast, noise, chroma, false (unnatural) detail from CNNs…), making the metric more precise and making the metric non reference based.
• Be collaborative with researchers within the group, researchers and engineers elsewhere in the company, as well as with external researchers in universities, and other labs.
• Fluent in English (French or Chinese is desirable but not mandatory).

This job description is only an outline of the tasks, responsibilities and outcomes required of the role. The jobholder will carry out any other duties as may be reasonably required by his/her line manager. The job description and personal specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of Huawei Research and Development UK Limited.

Required

• PhD degree with 2+ years of academic or industry experience.
• Working experience with image processing algorithms with a background in visual perception.
• Experience in running psychophysical experiments and working with video and image quality metrics.
• An in-depth understanding of the deep learning approaches and working experience with machine learning framework/packages (e.g, PyTorch).
• Strong knowledge of python.

Personal Attributes

• A passion for overcoming applied research challenges, strong problem-solving abilities and distinct skills to quickly acquire expertise in new areas.
• Able to work under pressure to meet tight deadlines – level headed, calm and considered.
• Proactive team player who is also capable of working independently.
• Positive attitude in working & learning and actively seeks to share ideas and information with colleagues.
• Attention to detail.
• Proven ability to work under own initiative, and to seek advice when required.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Supportive of the company culture and ethos.