Top Engineering Internship Programs Open to High School Students in 2024
For ambitious high school students with an interest in mathematics and science, opportunities like internships offer an invaluable chance to work on real-world research, work alongside experienced scientists, and contribute to cutting-edge projects. This blog post will cover 9 engineering internship programs for high school students. From Fermilab’s QuarkNet to APL’s ASPIRE and more, consider applying to some of these programs for a transformative experience.
Lockheed Martin Space High School Internship Program
Internship Timeline: June-August
Internship Duration: 9-10 weeks
Recruiting timeline: October 2023 -January 2024
Location: Within a commutable distance of a participating Lockheed Martin Facility. Some of their main facility locations include:
Sunnyvale, CA
Boulder, CO
Littleton, CO
Colorado Springs, CO
Huntsville, AL
Courtland, AL
King of Prussia, PA
Valley Forge, PA
Cape Canaveral, FL
Some virtual positions may be available
Lockheed Martin, with its extensive workforce of 60,000 technical experts, collaborates with educators, policymakers and families to advance STEM education. The Lockheed Martin Space High School Internship program provides a unique opportunity for students aged 16 and above to engage in real aerospace projects. Interns work closely with aerospace professionals, gaining hands-on experience and receiving an hourly wage. Interns participate in summer activities covering networking and career development to enrich their understanding and interest in the aerospace industry.
Research Science Institute
Internship timeline: June 23-August 3, 2024
Internship duration: 6 weeks
Recruiting timeline: Due Dec 13, 2023
Location: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
During this engineering/research summer program, 100 high school juniors start with a week-long series of seminars covering diverse research topics across biology, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, physics and humanities. Throughout the summer, RSI hosts evening lectures featuring distinguished leaders in science and technology, providing invaluable face-to-face interactions with Nobel laureates and tech entrepreneurs.
Following the initial week, students receive their research assignments from mentors and delve into advanced texts and recent journal articles. They join their assigned laboratories in the second week, dedicating extended hours to guided research from week 2-5. At the end of the program, participants present their findings through papers and oral presentations at an academic conference. Boston-area academic and corporate scientists commends 5 outstanding papers and presentations during the program’s final week.
Boston Research in Science and Engineering (RISE)
Internship Timeline: June 30-August 9, 2024
Internship Duration: 6 weeks
Recruiting Timeline: December 15, 2023 -February 14, 2024
Location: Boston University
Boston RISE internship program offers 2 distinct tracks: internship and practicum. In the internship track, students engage in hands-on research projects under the mentorship of faculty, postdocs and graduate students. Interns devote 40 hours per week to research projects tailored by mentors to enhance technical and analytical skills while gaining insight into the scientific process. Opportunities span various fields such as astronomy, biology, computer science, engineering, neuroscience and public health. Additionally, internship students may even have the chance to submit their research work to national science fair contests like the Regeneron Science Talent Search. The program also integrates sessions on college admission strategies and pre professional health programs.
UCSC Science Internship program (SIP)
Internship timeline: June 25-August 19, 2024
Internship duration: 10 weeks
Recruiting timeline: March 1-March 31, 2024
Location: hybrid (option to attend in-person on UCSC campus)
Under the mentorship of UCSC faculty, postdocs and graduate students, interns work on authentic research projects already ongoing at UCSC. This program allows students to immerse themselves in various STEM areas such as astrophysics, biology, psychology and more, working collaboratively in groups of 3 or more.
STEM2SHTEM
Internship Timeline: June 17, August 9
Internship Duration: 8 weeks
Recruiting Timeline: February 23, 2024
Location: virtual/online
In this engineering internship opportunity, participants engage in multifaceted projects tailored to their interest and strengths, mentored by students, faculty and staff associated with the Stanford Compression Forum and its affiliates. Research themes span a wide array of fields including information science, engineering, arts, linguistics, psychology, biology, neuroscience, computer science, and more. This engineering internship operates to offer early exposure to cutting-edge research in an academic setting for high school juniors or seniors.
High School Summer Internship program (HS-SIP) at the National Institute of Health (NIH)
Internship Timeline: TBD
Internship Duration: TBD
Recruiting Timeline: due February 16, 2024
Location: one of the NIH campuses, including the main compass in Bethesda, MD
This internship program is tailored for 11th and 12th graders who want to explore careers in research and healthcare. It is a full-time research position, working under Principal Investigators (PI) on real projects at different NIH campuses. Eligibility includes living within 40 miles of an NIH campus if under 18 by June 15, 2024. Summer interns receive stipends based on their educational level.
Princeton University’s Laboratory Learning Program
Internship Timeline: TBD
Internship Duration: 5-6 weeks
Recruiting Timeline: February 15 - March 15, 2024
Location: Princeton, NJ
This engineering summer program offers a full-time, cost-free research opportunity in science or engineering for high school students. Interns will participate in engaging research projects under supervision from Princeton faculty and research experts. The program’s duration is flexible, tailored to fit the research schedule and project specifics. This engineering summer program does not provide housing, transportation or recreational activities and cannot access Princeton housing nor social events and entertainment. Previous research opportunities from 2023 include Machine Learning Methods for Power Magnetics Modeling, Chicken embryos lung development, investigating heteroresistance to antibiotics and more.
John Hopkins Applied Physics Aspire Program
Internship Timeline: last week of June - TBD with mentor’s agreement
Internship Duration: 6-9 weeks, may continue into academic year
Recruiting Timeline: January 1 - February 15, 2024
Location: 30-mile radius of APL for in-person/hybrid; 50-mile radius for virtual
This engineering internship program is an opportunity for high school juniors and seniors. Seniors dedicate a minimum of 130 hours, while juniors commit to a minimum of 80 hours for their internships. ASPIRe emphasizes a holistic learning experience rather than a job, requiring independent work, effective communication, problem-solving and creative thinking. This engineering internship program is competitive, with an acceptance rate of around 15-20%, not based solely on GPA or prior STEM experience. The ASPIRE Program invites students to apply under one of the following main categories:
Aerospace engineering and planetary science
Applied physics
Biology and chemistry
Computer science
Engineering
Information technology and cybersecurity
Mathematics and data analysis
Fermilab Quarknet Summer Research Program
Internship Timeline: June 17 - August 2, 2024
Internship Duration: 7 weeks
Recruiting Timeline: November 13, 2023 - January 15, 2024
Location: Dupage County, IL
Quarknet presents engineering internship opportunities for high school sophomores, juniors and seniors who exhibit a strong passion for science and math. Interns collaborate with scientists on Fermilab projects. While interns can express preferences for research areas, projects are contingent on the lab’s ongoing endeavors, outlined on Fermilab’s website. Interns must be enrolled in an Illinois school, with a salary of $17.20/hr. Though Fermilab doesn’t provide housing, meals, or transportation, but it can offer discounted hotel options.
How Do I Get Chosen For An Engineering Internship Program?
It could be beneficial to mention your experiences in other programs when applying for an internship, specifically those related to your area of interest in the STEM project course. For instance, if you are passionate about artificial intelligence, you could talk about your participation in Inspirit's AI Scholars Program, where you created an AI model to diagnose pneumonia in scans with the guidance of a mentor from Stanford University. This program is a 25-hour boot camp that high school students can attend to explore artificial intelligence. It is an opportunity to pursue a passion project that incorporates AI and another area of interest. Some past projects include:
AI + Healthcare
COVID-19 Genomics
Mental Health Chatbots
Pneumonia Detection
AI + Journalism
Fake News Detection
Refugee Tweet Analysis
Safe ChatGPT (a truthful chatbot to avoid “fake-proofing”)
AI + mobility
Object detection for self-driving cars
Distracted driver detection
AI + arts and music
Music recommendations
Sketch recognition
Hacking Siri and Alexa
AI + government and law
Algorithmic Justice
Disaster Relief Improvement
News Reporting and Bias
AI + finance
Algorithmic trading
Cybersecurity and Business
Personal Growth In Engineering Internships
Participating in engineering internship programs could be an important moment in your academic, and personal life. They will be challenging, but they will teach you to be resilient and adaptable, skills that are crucial in post-secondary environments. Moreover, the connections you create with peers or mentors will (hopefully) last throughout your time at university and beyond. Lastly, your success in these programs is not measured solely by the research you complete. Every failure or breakthrough will provide insight into how you could approach similar problems in your future endeavors, or confirm whether you truly are passionate about a particular subject.
About Inspirit AI
AI Scholars Live Online is a 10 session (25-hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford, MIT, and more, students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups with a student-teacher ratio of 5:1.
