Intern, R&D Graduate Year-Round

About Our Team

Smart Electronics Software specializes in next-level software development, delivering custom-built solutions tailored to address the unique challenges of complex national security problems. Committed to software best practices, our team harnesses our diverse expertise, modern tools, and advanced methodologies to create robust, reliable, and cutting-edge applications that drive innovation and operational excellence.

About the Role

We are seeking a Year Round - R&D Graduate Intern to join our dynamic team.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, test, and integrate high-TRL software for embedded, electronics, and FPGA platforms.
• Apply agentic coding tools and AI-assisted development methods to improve software productivity, quality, and maintainability.
• Implement AI, machine learning, and autonomy algorithms for real-time execution on resource-constrained hardware.
• Collaborate with electronics, firmware, software, systems, and mission-domain experts to develop integrated solutions.
• Optimize algorithms and software for performance, latency, power, memory, and reliability constraints.
• Support hardware-in-the-loop testing, embedded platform bring-up, verification, validation, and fieldable prototype demonstrations.
• Contribute to software architectures, development workflows, and best practices for trusted AI-enabled embedded systems.
• Explore emerging tools and methodologies for applying generative AI and autonomous coding agents to mission software development.

This position is ideal for someone who enjoys working at the intersection of modern software engineering, embedded systems, FPGA development, artificial intelligence, and national security applications. You will have the opportunity to shape how next-generation intelligent systems are developed and deployed on advanced electronics platforms.

Work Arrangement

The selected applicant can work a combination of onsite and offsite work. The selected applicant must live within a reasonable distance for commuting to the assigned work location when necessary.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Currently attending and enrolled full time in an accredited science, engineering, or math graduate program.
• Ability to work up to 30 hours per week during the academic year, and up to 40 hours per week during the summer.
• Ability to secure and maintain a U.S. security clearance which requires U.S. citizenship.

Qualifications

• Earned bachelor's degree.
• Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0/4.0.
• Experience developing software in one or more relevant languages, such as C, C++, Python, Rust, MATLAB, or similar languages used for embedded, scientific, or systems programming.
• Familiarity with embedded software development, real-time systems, microcontrollers, system-on-chip platforms, digital signal processors, or other resource-constrained computing environments.
• Exposure to FPGA development, hardware description languages, or high-level synthesis tools, such as VHDL, Verilog, SystemVerilog, HLS, Vivado, Quartus, or related toolchains.
• Interest in deploying AI, machine learning, signal processing, or autonomy algorithms to edge, embedded, FPGA, or electronics platforms.
• Familiarity with AI/ML frameworks, model optimization techniques, or edge-AI deployment concepts, such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, ONNX, quantization, pruning, latency optimization, or hardware acceleration.
• Experience using modern software engineering practices, including version control, unit testing, code reviews, continuous integration, debugging, documentation, and requirements-based development.
• Interest in using agentic coding, AI-assisted software development, or large language model tools to improve software productivity, quality, and maintainability.
• Ability to work across hardware/software boundaries, including integrating software with electronics, sensors, communication interfaces, data acquisition systems, or laboratory test equipment.
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to learn new technologies, development environments, and mission applications quickly.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams that may include software engineers, firmware developers, electrical engineers, systems engineers, researchers, and mission customers.
• Good written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document designs, explain technical tradeoffs, and present results to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Interest in developing high-reliability, high-TRL software for real-time autonomy, decision support, intelligent control, signal processing, or mission-critical embedded applications.