The interns range from undergraduate students to PhD candidates, working across labs.
SRI has welcomed a cohort of 80 undergraduate and graduate students, including PhD candidates, to our internship program for 2023. The program is designed to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world experience, with opportunities to apply academic knowledge to practical challenges and work hands-on with teams across SRI.
While in the program, SRI interns are offered guidance and mentorship from SRI’s experts and attend technical presentations on cutting-edge research and projects within the institute. The program also seeks to enhance technical skills and nurture their passion for research and their dedication to making a meaningful impact in their respective fields.
SRI seeks to make the program a transformative experience, inspiring students to return for future internships or join the organization upon graduation to create world-changing solutions for a safer, healthier, and more sustainable future.
Learn about some of our 2023 interns:
Carlos Cordeiro
Area of study & degree: PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Tulsa, expected 2023
Why are you passionate about your area of study: My doctorate research focuses on the development of advanced composites for the next generation of concentrated solar power plants. Being able to contribute to the advancement of renewable energy has given me the motivation to tackle the difficult challenges that come with the research of these advance materials.
Why intern at SRI: SRI and PARC have an extensive and impressive history on the development of innovative technologies. When the opportunity appeared to intern on a project for materials also for concentrated solar power at PARC, I was certain that’s where I wanted to be.
Sara Court
Area of study & degree: PhD in Linguistics at the Ohio State University, expected 2026
Why are you passionate about your area of study: My work in computational linguistics allows me to use rigorous, data-driven methods to explore the realm of what’s possible in human language while developing tools to improve the lives of minority language speakers around the world.
I’m also passionate about infrastructure building — connecting scholars across fields of study with each other and with traditionally underrepresented groups to increase the diversity, efficiency, and effectiveness with which CL/NLP research and applications are developed.
Why intern at SRI: I’m exploring opportunities for a career in AI/ML language technology outside of Academia.
Kiitan Fawole
Area of study & degree: BS in Computer Engineering at Drexel University, expected 2026
Why are you passionate about your area of study: Growing up seeing so many great technological advancements; the smart phone, desktop, and electric cars inspired me to want to contribute to help push the world forward and make life easier and safer for everyone.
Why intern at SRI: I’m quite interested in research and development and hearing about SRI’s contributions in outstanding advancements like Siri and iris recognition made it an easy top pick for an internship.
Makenzie Fischer
Area of study & degree: MS in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University, expected 2024
Why are you passionate about your area of study: I’m passionate about mechanical engineering because I love the idea of being able to design something that has the potential to tangibly improve an aspect of a person’s life. I also hope to leverage my mechanical engineering skills to minimize the harm done to the planet in one way or another.
Why intern at SRI: I decided to intern at SRI because there is the most potential for both positive change and creativity at the R&D level and SRI seems to always be at the cutting edge. It is a tremendous opportunity to be able to bring something that starts as just an idea into the physical realm.
Brian Li
Area of study & degree: MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara, expected 2024
Why are you passionate about your area of study: I have always enjoyed learning how things work, and one of the things I always wondered as a kid was how computers worked. Over the years, this interest stayed with me and influenced my area of study.
Why intern at SRI: I really enjoyed my time as an intern at SRI last summer getting to apply the knowledge and skills I learned in class and my research lab into actual research projects, so I wanted to work here again this summer.
Dhiraj Saharia
Area of study & degree: PhD in Computer Science at Georgetown University, expected 2027
Why are you passionate about your area of study: The area of programmable networks is quite new as opposed to traditional networks and has lot of open issues, especially in security. Additionally, this has lot of industry collaborations along with real world deployments giving rise to lot of opportunities.
Why intern at SRI: I decided to intern at SRI mostly due to my advisor Dr. Vinod and his work on computer system security.
