Electrical Engineering Internships—Huntsville, AL
Why choose between doing meaningful work and having a fulfilling life? At MITRE, you can have both. That's because MITRE people are committed to tackling our nation's toughest challenges—and we're committed to the long-term well-being of our employees. MITRE is different from most technology companies. We are a not-for-profit corporation chartered to work for the public interest, with no commercial conflicts to influence what we do. The R&D centers we operate for the government create lasting impact in fields as diverse as cybersecurity, healthcare, aviation, defense, and enterprise transformation. We're making a difference every day—working for a safer, healthier, and more secure nation and world. Our workplace reflects our values. We offer competitive benefits, exceptional professional development opportunities, and a culture of innovation that embraces diversity, inclusion, flexibility, collaboration, and career growth. If this sounds like the choice you want to make, then choose MITRE—and make a difference with us.
MITRE National Security (MNS) supports the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community’s most critical needs. We do so from our dual headquarters in McLean, VA and Bedford, MA but also by being embedded with our DoD and Intel sponsors DDDH1 at over 50 domestic locations and 9 international locations including Huntsville, AL.
In an ever-changing world, the span of national security concerns we support has grown beyond just physical security and now includes the security of our critical infrastructure, computer systems, energy and natural resources, political and economic systems, and even space. Our MNS team are experts in the challenges of our sponsors, balancing their technical breadth and depth with our exquisite operational and mission knowledge. This enables our sponsors to operate from the tactical edge to the whole of nation strategy level. We accomplish this through our strategic partnerships with our Innovation Centers who bring that deep technical domain knowledge. Together, our work has real impact in both the shadows and on the battlefield.
The MITRE National Security (MNS) intern experience is designed to foster the next generation of MITRE mission focused team members. It serves as a direct pathway to employment within MNS. In fact, two-thirds of our MNS recent graduates’ hires come through this program.
In preparation for full-time employment, you will be exposed to how we…
- think and serve as trusted advisors to the government,
- play a unique role in the defense community as a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC),
- balance our broad technical experiences with a deep understanding of the mission space.
This combined with sponsoring your clearance enables you to have impact on day one of your post-graduation career at MITRE.
The intern program is a multi-year experience broken into four key components:
- Impactful work for one of many of MITRE’s national security sponsors
- Enhance professional development along with your fellow interns through pod-based mentoring from early career MITRE employees
- Weekly events to include guest speakers, early career panels, lab tours, etc.
- Optional extracurricular activities such as Part 107 drone pilot license course, RF scavenger hunts, technical learning tracks (AI, data science, or embedded security)
Why Huntsville?
Huntsville, AL site has a diverse work program including weapon systems, system assessments, ground based sensors, space systems, command/control/battle-manager/communications systems, Cyber Security, and models and simulations. Our primary areas of mission concentration include defense and space systems, sensors, systems integration, systems engineering, cyber security, defensive cyber operations, and software development.
Job Responsibilities:
Working alongside MITRE mission specialists and engineers, you will be supporting national security sponsors while helping to design, develop, and implement solutions and technologies to address the electrical engineering challenges of our government sponsors. You will learn about MITRE sponsor missions and apply your technical knowledge and skills to problem-solving and innovation. At the culmination of the intern program, you will be considered for permanent placement on the MITRE’s National Security team focused on sponsor missions with a strong technical background enabling you to be a future leader in the company.
From wireless communications to satellite navigation, you will learn to apply electrical engineering expertise, innovative concepts, and technology solutions to address every facet of our sponsor’s electrical engineering challenges to include:
- Antennas/Electromagnetics/Nuclear Effects
- ASIC Design
- Communications Network Engineering
- Computational Imaging
- Electrical Engineering
- Electronic Warfare
- Electronics Engineering
- Embedded Security
- Embedded Software Engineering
- Energy Systems
- FPGA Engineering
- Photonics
- Position Navigation and Timing
- Reliability
- RF Systems Engineering
- Sensors
- Signal Processing
What are some examples of the projects that I might work on?
- Threat characterization against sensor performance requirements analysis
- Design and verification of real-time signal processing modules for a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation of next generation military GPS receivers
- Evaluating impacts of spectrum co-use between government assets and commercial LTE signals
- Modeling antenna behaviors to support future trade studies
- Tool development to inform sensor acquisition behaviors
- Simulation tools to predict the sensor performance under environmental conditions
What does an ideal MITRE Electrical Engineering / Computer Engineering intern candidate look like?
- Hands-on experience gained from previous work experience or relevant intern/co-op work
- Interest and breadth in several sub-disciplines within EE/ECE, including information and coding theory, digital signal processing, wireless communications, computer architecture, embedded software, embedded security, cryptography, analog design, RF/EM, sensors and antennas, photonics, power systems, and software architecture and design
- Evidence of being a life-long learner, with a passion for the field
- High-level desire to help our nation solve critical challenges
Required Qualifications:
- Pursuing a Bachelor of Science or an advanced degree (Masters or PhD) in electrical engineering, software engineering, computer science, computer engineering, or related field
- Ability to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret clearance
- Experience with MATLAB and similar modeling & analytic tools
- Demonstrated ability and desire to quickly learn and apply new technologies
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively with colleagues
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
Preferred Qualifications:
- Active Secret
- Previous internship experience ideally related to national security
- Interdisciplinary background, with evidence of continual learning
- Electrical Engineering: DSP, wireless communications, sensor fusion, machine vision
- Knowledge of RF theory and concepts
- Advanced coursework or job experience with digital signal processing
- Experience with GNU Radio
- Experience with Python, C, C++, C# or CUDA
- Knowledge of machine learning
This requisition requires the candidate to have a minimum of the following clearance(s):
None
This requisition requires the hired candidate to have or obtain, within one year from the date of hire, the following clearance(s):
None
Subject to all federal and state laws, rules and regulations, MITRE requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Newly hired employees must be fully vaccinated prior to their employment start date. MITRE will provide reasonable accommodation to individuals who are legally entitled to an exemption under applicable laws so long as it does not create an undue hardship for MITRE and/or does not pose a direct threat to the health or safety of the employee or others in the workplace.