Research Intern - Azure Front Door Edge Actions for Low Latency Compute

Research Internships at Microsoft provide a dynamic environment for research careers with a network of world-class research labs led by globally-recognized scientists and engineers, who pursue innovation in a range of scientific and technical disciplines to help solve complex challenges in diverse fields, including computing, healthcare, economics, and the environment.

This position is for a Research Internship jointly with the Intelligent Networked Systems group in Microsoft Research Redmond and the Azure Front Door team in Azure Networking.

You will be conducting a research collaboration with the Azure Front Door team, which operates Microsoft’s CDN service, driven by cutting edge technology for billions of requests each day for low latency experience for Microsoft clients. This role will focus on Edge Actions, which is a technology to execute lightweight low latency operations on the Azure Front Door edge. You will be adding to the capabilities of Edge Actions in Azure Front Door, orchestrate AI applications across Azure regions and Front Door locations, and conduct extensive experiments to evaluate the benefits to the applications and underlying infrastructure. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge AI research while solving critical challenges of scalability, latency, and efficiency in user-facing systems.

Required Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, Machine Learning, or a related field.

Other Requirements

• Research Interns are expected to be physically located in their manager’s Microsoft worksite location for the duration of their internship.
• In addition to the qualifications below, you’ll need to submit a minimum of two reference letters for this position as well as a cover letter and any relevant work or research samples. After you submit your application, a request for letters may be sent to your list of references on your behalf. Note that reference letters cannot be requested until after you have submitted your application, and furthermore, that they might not be automatically requested for all candidates. You may wish to alert your letter writers in advance, so they will be ready to submit your letter. 

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficient foundations with ML models, LLMs, and their applications in real-world systems.
• Proven experience with lightweight machine learning techniques and their integration with deep learning models.
• Demonstrated proficiency in mixed-technologies and AI prototyping
• Expertise in scalable architectures, distributed systems, or edge computing.
• Programming proficiency in Python and experience with machine learning frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch)
• Demonstrates the ability to think unconventionally to derive creative and innovative solutions.
• Experience working on large-scale systems handling high user and data volumes.
• Demonstrated ability to optimize latency and computational efficiency in real-time applications.
• Published research in top-tier systems, networking, and AI/ML conferences.

The base pay range for this internship is USD $6,550 - $12,880 per month. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $8,480 - $13,920 per month.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: https://careers.microsoft.com/us/en/us-intern-pay 

Microsoft accepts applications and processes offers for these roles on an ongoing basis.

Research Interns put inquiry and theory into practice. Alongside fellow doctoral candidates and some of the world’s best researchers, Research Interns learn, collaborate, and network for life. Research Interns not only advance their own careers, but they also contribute to exciting research and development strides. During the 12-week internship, Research Interns are paired with mentors and expected to collaborate with other Research Interns and researchers, present findings, and contribute to the vibrant life of the community. Research internships are available in all areas of research, and are offered year-round, though they typically begin in the summer.

Additional Responsibilities

• Develop a suite of lightweight filters packaged as Edge Actions for AI applications such as video analytics, LLM queries, and personal assistants.
• Conduct research on orchestrating AI applications between the Azure Front Door edge and Azure region.
• Explore opportunities to trade off compute and bandwidth efficiency with latency and accuracy benefits.
• Continuously assess and improve system performance to maintain robustness and efficiency under real-world conditions.
• Provide insights and contribute to breakthroughs through prototypes, thought leadership, and knowledge sharing.
• By the end of your internship you will deliver a working prototype, demonstrating Edge Actions at scale for real-world use cases.
• You will also be working towards submitting a patent application and publishing a research paper summarizing the design of the solution and experimental findings.