R&D Engineer Intern

Cyberspace Operations Research Department Internship

We are searching for a motivated undergraduate student to join the Cyberspace Operations Research Department at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) at Penn State. This internship will concentrate on researching and developing adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to conduct system vulnerability assessments and enable security hardening support to various sponsors.

Typical focus areas include:

• Research state-of-the-art techniques for vulnerability detection, system exploitation, and technical mitigations
• Develop scripts and applications to automate processes
• Design experiments and set up test environments
• Conduct experiments and execute demonstrations
• Testing of representative systems under simulated real-world conditions
• Data collection, analysis, and reporting of experimental results
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to solve engineering challenges
• Develop and optimize prototypes for critical applications
• Research and document emerging technologies
• Participate in technical presentations and discussions

Interest skills and experience areas include:

• Familiarity with basic system vulnerability and exploitation concepts
• Basic knowledge of engineering concepts and the scientific method
• Basic proficiency in Linux-based environments
• Proficiency in programming and scripting languages (C, Python, bash, PowerShell)
• Proficiency in using Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Success in environments where various forms of communication and organizational skills were crucial to be effective
• Experience collaborating in multi-disciplinary, team-oriented cultures
• Willingness to learn and adapt to new tools, techniques, and technologies

You will work up to 20 hours/week during the fall and spring semesters and have the opportunity to work up to 40 hours/week over the summer. This is a paid internship opportunity, and location will be fully on-site located in State College, PA, or Reston, VA, but options exist for hybrid of on-site/work from home based on project-dependent ability. Questions related to flexible work should be directed to the hiring manager during the interview process. Relocation and housing are not provided.

ARL's purpose is to research and develop innovative solutions to challenging scientific, engineering, and technology problems in support of the Navy, the Intel Community (IC), and other federal government customers.