Student Opportunities

Undergraduate & Graduate Internships

Our programs for undergraduate and graduate students offer an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in world-class research and development. Explore Draper capabilities, solutions and business areas to determine what technology areas interest you, then check the set of job listings here.

Please apply as soon as possible – there are no rigid dates for submission, but offers are sometimes made early for outstanding candidates.

If you have made contact with a specific staff member in your area of interest (e.g., at a conference or through an event) please feel free to contact him/her directly and inquire about the possibility of working with him/her through the program. Many times, a student's participation in one Draper student program can evolve into participation into another program (e.g., the Draper Fellow Program) and eventually into becoming a technical staff member.

STRATUS Student Project

Engineering Student Internship Program

Engineering interns have multiple opportunities to attend technical briefings, interact with national experts in numerous fields of research, work with state-of-the-art equipment on real-world technical applications and then present the results of their research and development activities at the end of the internship. The majority of engineering interns are at Draper from early June through mid-August under the direct supervision of technical staff.

Non-engineering Co-Op Internship Program

Draper hires students to support business and information technology activities in both full-time summer positions as well as part-time positions during the academic year. 

Draper also partners with several institutions, including Northeastern University, Wentworth Institute, UMass Lowell and the University of South Florida to offer work-study programs for both undergraduate and graduate students. These programs vary depending on the school requirements and schedule.

High School Internship Program

student opportunitiesThis program provides an opportunity for students to prepare for a professional career in engineering or a related science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) field by working with mentor scientists and engineers to complete a research project.

Students apply their interests in STEM to real-world problems with open-ended components, design constraints and specified deliverables. Teams of three to four students work on defined projects under the supervision of a Draper engineer or scientist. Upon completion of the internship, the teams present their results to their engineering groups, fellow students and other invited guests from within Draper.

Students have opportunities to attend Draper’s scientific seminars and presentations, and can tour different labs within Draper throughout the summer.

Internship Projects

The high school internship projects differ each year. To better understand the technology areas that Draper works in, explore Draper’s solutions, capabilities and business areas. 

Read more about the Summer 2019 Projects here.

Application Process & Timeline

Candidates can submit applications February through March. Final selections will occur in April. Apply here.

All applications must be submitted during the application period and through the web submission portal. Complete applications include a transcript, a letter of recommendation, and six short answer questions. Finalists will be interviewed before receiving an offer. 

Eligibility

  • U.S. citizenship or green card required for the summer internship. 

  • Students must be 16 years of age at the start of the internship.

  • The student must be entering their junior or senior year of high school. If you are a graduating senior, please see our undergraduate internship opportunities. 

Logistics

Internships run for six consecutive weeks from July to August. Students must be able to commit to the entire six weeks to participate. During these weeks, students will work Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., which includes an unpaid lunch hour each day. Interns will receive $12.75 per hour. Housing is not provided. Students must be capable of commuting, if necessary.

Application Requirements

  1. Online application form

  2. Official high school transcript

  3. A copy of this template filled out by an instructor in a relevant science/engineering course. Please have an instructor send the completed .docx file to hs_program@draper.com and include the word “recommendation” and student name in the subject field (i.e., Recommendation - John Doe).

Draper will be accepting Summer 2019 High School Internship Program applications now through March 11. 

Upon successful application submission, you will be redirected to a confirmation page. If you do not see this confirmation, your application was NOT received by Draper.  Please resubmit your application.

For more information, please contact hs_program@draper.com. Please do not send application materials to this address.

High School Internship Application

Date of Birth
Statement of Interest – why should you be selected for this internship and what skills do you hope to gain from this experience at Draper? (500 word limit)

Briefly describe one academic or work experience that you feel has potential relevance and/or application to interning at Draper. (250 word limit)

Examples: A project you worked on in an after-school STEM-related club (ie. Robotics Club), a class project focused on industrial/graphic design, a science fair project submission, extracurricular participation in an academic team/league, a science communication/public speaking opportunity(-ies) at a local library, STEM tutoring at a local elementary/middle school, prior summer internship/job or intensive short-course experience. 

What would your future dream career be and how do you hope this internship will benefit your education and career path? (250 word limit)
To aid future efforts in space travel and exploration, new or adapted existing technology will be required to support human transit in space, in situ resource utilization in space and habitation of celestial bodies. If you could decide what technology needs to go into space to support one of these endeavors, what would you pick and why? Discuss one or more technologies, and cite up to three sources in the text boxes below. (250 word limit)
Choose your first prompt.
Choose your second prompt.
One file only.
5 MB limit.
Allowed types: docx.
Please use this resume template. We will not accept submissions in another format or file type.
One file only.
5 MB limit.
Allowed types: pdf.
View Summer 2019 Project Descriptions