Wearable Hardware R&D Engineer – New-Grad PhD(On-site. West Lafayette, USA)

Transform healthcare with ultralow‑power Wi‑R™ technology

On‑site – West Lafayette, IN |Competitive Salary + Equity + Bonus

We provide relocation packages and visa transfers (if required) for engineers currently in the San Francisco Bay Area and other U.S. hubs.

About Ixana

Ixana is a Purdue University spinoff pioneering brain-inspired wearable computing. We've developed Wi-R, a patented communication tech that's 100x more energy-efficient than Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Join our 60-person team building the next era of real-time, AI-powered human-computer interaction.

The Wi-R Revolution

Wi-R is our patented non-radiative near-field communication technology that creates secure "wire-like wireless" experiences through small E-field bubbles around your body. This breakthrough enables unprecedented energy efficiency at sub-0.1 nanojoules per bit, making long-term wearable and implantable devices finally practical.

See Wi-R in action: Visit ixana.ai for demos of high-speed data streaming through skin contact: https://vimeo.com/ixana/pairing-contact-transfer

What you’ll do

• Invent next‑gen wearables & implantables (EEG glasses, EMG patches, smart implants) around Wi‑R SoCs
• Own the path from concept → schematic → 4‑layer medical PCB → firmware bring‑up → benchtop & in‑vivo tests
• Design for FDA Class II/III: biocompatibility, hermetic packaging, ISO 13485 documentation
• Collaborate daily with IC, RF, mech and clinical teams; publish & patent your work

What we’re looking for

• PhD (completed 2023 – 2026) in EE, ECE, BME, ME or similar
• Proven wearable or implantable hardware project (labs, dissertation or startup)
• Skills in PCB (Altium/KiCad), sensors, low‑power analog / mixed‑signal, embedded C/C++ or Python
• Able to relocate to West Lafayette and work on‑site 5 days / week

Bonus: 4‑layer medical PCB layouts, biocompatible materials, FDA / ISO 13485 experience, publications or patents in flexible electronics, biosensors or neural interfaces

Compensation & benefits

• Base salary$95 000 – $125 000 USD ‑ equivalent to ≈ $185 k – $240 k Bay‑Area purchasing power
• 8 – 30 % cash bonus + meaningful early‑stage equity
• Relocation bonus, partner job‑search help
• Full visa sponsorship (STEM‑OPT transfer / H‑1B / TN / future green card)
• Medical, dental, vision, 401(k), generous PTO, inventor cash awards

Why Join Us

• Ship world‑first products that can’t be built with today’s wireless

• Startup upside without seed‑stage risk - silicon proven, funded runway, 60 colleagues across IC → cloud

• Daily access to Purdue’s ecosystem

• Publish, patent, present - we celebrate open science and named inventorship

Ready to re‑wire the future of human-computer interaction?
Apply via our careers page. In your note, tell us how you’d push the limits of Wi-R chip design.

Ixana is an equal opportunity employer committed to advancing human-computer interfaces through innovative low-power electronics innovation.

Keywords:

Wearable Devices, Implantable Electronics, Biomedical Engineering, Medical Device Design, PCB Design (Altium/KiCad), Low-Power Analog Design, Embedded Systems (C/C++/Python), Biosensors, FDA Compliance (Class II/III), Neural Interfaces