2026 Internship – Human-Centered Design & Engineering

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory•Laurel, MD

15h•$23 - $48

About The Position

Do you get energized by working with teams to tackle difficult challenges and rapidly deliver human-centered solutions? Do you consider yourself both a right-brained and left-brained thinker with an appreciation for design and engineering? Do you have a growing understanding of innovation methods and techniques, and are looking to learn more about different processes and approaches? If so, we’re looking for someone like you to join our team for the summer at APL. The Design Thinking Group is seeking a dynamic intern to join our multi-disciplinary teams in the discovery, design, and development of innovative solutions to address complex challenges and improve the lives of end-users. Our work blends design thinking and systems thinking to drive front-end innovation across different areas, including strategic planning, technology development, product design, and user experience design. As an intern, you’ll collaborate with a team of passionate problem solvers who leverage human-centered design methodologies to imagine, test, and refine impactful ideas. You’ll have the opportunity to explore big questions, create meaningful solutions, and contribute to projects that place people at the center of every challenge. We believe that the best solutions come from authentic collaboration, intellectual humility, and relentless curiosity. If you’re eager to learn, experiment, and make a difference, we’d love for you to bring your creativity and energy to our team.

Requirements

Are pursuing a degree in Industrial Design, Mechanical Engineering, Human Factors Engineering, Interaction Design, User Experience Design, Computer Science, Software Engineering, Web Development, Game Development, Human Computer Interaction or a related field with a minimum 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale
Have the ability to work independently and with teams of collaborators
Have a passion for building team culture, driving innovation, and building/executing strategic initiatives
Possess excellent oral and written communication skills.
Hold an Active Secret clearance or above, or are able to obtain Interim Secret level security clearance by your start date and can ultimately obtain a Secret level clearance. If selected, you will be subject to a government security clearance investigation and must meet the requirements for access to classified information. Eligibility requirements include U.S. citizenship.

Nice To Haves

Hold a Bachelors Degree or higher in any of the disciplines listed above (or an equivalent field)
Have experience or coursework in human-centered design methodologies such as design thinking, agile, lean six sigma, lean start up, and user-centered design
Have familiarity with collaboration methodologies from industry (e.g. Google Sprint, LUMA, etc.)
Have experience with ethnographic research and synthesis
Have experience with rapid prototyping and user testing

Responsibilities

Work with cross-functional teams develop critical concepts for our sponsors
Assist the team in conducting mixed methods user research and advocate for the voice of the user
Analyze and synthesize qualitative and quantitative data to uncover insights and opportunity areas for innovation
Participate and facilitate ideation sessions with groups of users to develop solutions for a wide variety of challenges
Work with a project team to develop experiments and prototypes to test with users