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 available internships listings.
View Undergraduate & Graduate Internship listings.
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.
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.
High School Summer Internship Program
This 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 capabilities, solutions and business areas.
Read more about past summer internship projects.
Application Process
The application period will open in February and candidates will have approximately four weeks to submit their application. Candidates will be notified of their application status by May.
All applications and required documents must be submitted during the application period and through the web submission portal. Complete applications include a transcript, letter of recommendation and short answer questions through the online application. Finalists will be interviewed before receiving an offer.
Eligibility
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U.S. citizenship or a green card is required for the summer internship.
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Students must be at least 16 years of age at the start of the internship.
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The student must be entering their junior or senior year of high school following the internship. If you are a graduating senior, please see our undergraduate internship opportunities.
Logistics
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Internships run for six consecutive weeks from July to August. Students must be able to commit to the entire six weeks to participate.
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Students will work Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., which includes an unpaid lunch hour each day.
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Interns will receive $13 per hour.
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Housing is not provided. Students must be capable of commuting, if necessary.
Application Requirements
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Online application form.
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Unofficial high school transcript for Grade 9 to your most recent semester.
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A copy of this letter of recommendation template from one instructor in a relevant science/engineering course. Please have one instructor send the completed .docx file to hs_program@draper.com. Be sure that your instructor includes the following in the subject field: 1) The word “recommendation” and 2) your full name as it appears in your application (i.e., Recommendation - John Doe).
Application Schedule 2021
ANNOUNCEMENT: The High School internship will not run in the summer of 2021. We want to assure that students get the most hands on experience with members of the Draper Staff on their internship projects and for this reason the 2021 high school summer program will not run this year. Please check back for the 2022 schedule when it is available.
For more information, please contact hs_program@draper.com. Please do not send application materials to this address.