AI & Automation Intern (Summer 2027)

Sargent & Lundy•Chicago, IL

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

At Sargent & Lundy, AI is integral to transforming engineering expertise into smarter, faster solutions for the power and energy sector. This internship focuses on contributing to real projects where AI and automation solve tangible problems. The intern will work with experienced engineers and data professionals on the Enterprise Data & Analytics team, understanding business problems, evaluating AI/automation solutions, and building/testing practical applications. The role emphasizes critical thinking, quick learning, and applying modern AI concepts like agents, retrieval-augmented workflows, and AI-assisted development to real-world challenges.

Requirements

Currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Data Science, or a related field.
Problem-solving mindset; ability to take an ambiguous question, break it into pieces, and make progress.
Comfortable with an "I'll figure it out" attitude.
Solid academic foundation in core technical areas (e.g., data structures & algorithms, linear algebra, probability/statistics).
Proficiency in Python for scripting, data analysis, or application development.
Familiarity with AI/ML concepts (supervised/unsupervised learning, regression, classification, clustering) and their use cases.
Experience with common Python libraries (e.g., NumPy, pandas, scikit-learn).
Comfortable using AI-assisted development tools (GitHub Copilot, Cursor, or similar).
Familiarity with Git/GitHub and modern development workflows.
Curious and coachable; actively seek feedback, learn from mistakes, and adapt quickly.
Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, or LangChain.
Hands-on experience with agentic AI frameworks, RAG pipelines, or prompt engineering.
Experience with data visualization (Matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly) or interactive notebooks (Jupyter).
Exposure to cloud platforms (Azure, AWS, or GCP) or development practices like CI/CD and containerization.
Experience with automation or workflow tools (Power Automate, RPA, or scripting-based process automation).
Participation in hackathons, side projects, research, or open-source work.
A portfolio, GitHub profile, or project write-up demonstrating problem-solving approach.
Demonstrated initiative or ability to juggle academics, projects, and extracurriculars effectively.

Responsibilities

Collaborate with team members and business stakeholders to understand challenges and translate business needs into technical approaches.
Ask clarifying questions, gather context, and help define project success criteria.
Contribute to the development of AI-driven solutions and automations using Python and modern frameworks.
Evaluate different approaches (AI, automation, hybrid) based on the problem.
Assist in building and testing notebooks, scripts, lightweight APIs, or workflow automations.
Support data collection, cleaning, transformation, and feature engineering.
Identify data quality issues, gaps, or biases and flag them with recommended next steps.
Use AI-assisted development tools (e.g., GitHub Copilot, Cursor) as part of the daily workflow.
Explore and contribute to agentic AI workflows, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) patterns, and prompt engineering.
Assist with solution testing, evaluation, and performance analysis.
Participate in team discussions, bringing ideas, questions, and constructive challenges.
Contribute to documentation, reports, and presentations.