Become an Intern at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Interns assist scientists to solve cybersecurity challenges in critical infrastructure.
Students gain valuable experience that often leads to full-time employment.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in Richland, Washington, is addressing major challenges in sustainable energy and national security. Interns play a key role in supporting this work!
Nancy Roe, STEM Education Consultant at PNNL, manages the Community College Internship program (CCI) where interns work from 10 to 16 weeks, gaining valuable experience while earning money. This article summarizes a conversation with Nancy about the CCI program.
Applications for next summer’s internships are open until January 8. Opportunities include cybersecurity, a vital research area at PNNL.
What is it like to intern at PNNL?
Nancy supports interns from start to finish. She can point to housing options, conduct orientation, and provide ongoing guidance. Interns are paired with mentors who assign research tasks, and there are regular check-ins to ensure growth. Weekly intern meetings foster peer support, and interns often collaborate with post-doctoral students on joint research projects.
Cybersecurity Internship Projects
Interns contribute to projects like the Wastewater Treatment initiative, improving the security of water treatment plants, a critical part of national infrastructure. They help design, fabricate, and test prototypes for industrial control systems using technologies such as:
- 3-D printing
- Rapid fabrication of parts
- Mechanical construction
- Parasolid design
- Computational modeling
Interns also assessed the security of Internet of Things (IoT) devices which are often the entry point for network breaches. IoT devices vary widely in size, use diverse protocols, and often lack consistency in security measures. Using the IoT Common Operating Environment at PNNL, interns worked alongside scientists to test a variety of attacks against such devices.
Application Requirements
Applicants must have earned at least 12 college credits with a 3.0 GPA, a high school diploma or GED, and be a U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident. Most CCI interns live near PNNL’s Richland, Sequim, or Seattle campuses during their internship. Remote opportunities are limited.
What if you feel unqualified?
Nancy encourages students to apply regardless of doubts. She says,
“Because of these fears of inadequacy, we often don’t get enough applicants. But I remind people that this experience will accelerate their learning! They’ll be able to use tools that may not be available in their schools, and they’ll gain experience and knowledge that they won’t get elsewhere as a student.”
Student Success Stories
Tina Ellis, a 2022 intern, is now a full-time Cyber Security Analyst at PNNL. She completed her Bachelor of Applied Science in Cyber Security at Columbia Basin College. Tina now focuses on Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), helping clients to prioritize threats and initiate protection measures.
Marni Aoyama switched careers from nursing to cybersecurity and completed multiple internships at PNNL. Marni's natural curiosity and a belief in the fundamental right to privacy drove her to pursue an engineering role in this field. She earned her Bachelor of Science at CBC and now works full time as a Cybersecurity Engineer at PNNL.
Mission to Grow Cyber Talent
PNNL, operated by Battelle for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, aims to develop the next generation of scientists, engineers, and cybersecurity professionals. While they hope successful interns will join one of the 17 national labs, any graduate making an impact contributes to national security and prosperity.
Apply today and start your journey with PNNL!
Read more at https://www.pnnl.gov/internships.
