Hardware Engineering Internship (6-Month Program)

Microsoft•Redmond, WA

4d•$5,690 - $12,250

About The Position

This Hardware Engineering Internship is a 6-month program at Microsoft, offering University interns the chance to build community, explore passions, and do their best work. The intern will be responsible for end-to-end hardware quality engineering for large-scale AI and GPU-based data center fleets. Key focus areas include early failure detection, root cause analysis, and operational quality enablement. The role involves close collaboration with data center operations, firmware, platform engineering, diagnostics, and vendor teams to enhance hardware reliability, decrease repeat incidents, and speed up mean-time-to-resolution (MTTR) for production AI infrastructure. The intern will develop, modify, and evaluate components for electronic devices, including mechanical systems and electrical components. This includes defining design approaches, technical specifications, and parameters for devices, ensuring test requirements align with customer use scenarios. The intern will also assist in selecting materials and components based on specifications and reliability analysis, and may work with suppliers. Developing test plans and test cases is also a part of the role. Microsoft interns work on real-world projects, collaborate with global teams, and are empowered to bring their solutions and ideas to life while working with cutting-edge technology. Academic credit may be available through the Microsoft Intern Program. This internship begins on February 1, 2027, and lasts for six months. Microsoft's mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The company culture is built on a growth mindset, innovation, and collaboration, with core values of respect, integrity, and accountability, fostering an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

Requirements

Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field OR equivalent experience.
Must have at least one additional quarter/semester of school remaining following the completion of the internship.

Nice To Haves

Currently pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science or related field.
Experience with server architectures and/or their subsystems – including GPU, CPU, AI hardware, Memory and methods for root cause analysis and debugging.

Responsibilities

Assists in the creation of robust, scalable, secure and extensible designs and/or verification plans for the hardware engineering aspects of well-defined products or features.
Conducts automated testing on standard products and participate in testing dashboard creation and identify common feature flaws using data analysis and validate features by helping build prototypes.
Follows a project schedule as you deliver the hardware engineering aspects of a feature or product and choose appropriate parts and evaluate the essential details of materials used in production.
Documents essential details about materials, components, and/or assemblies for a device via accepted release processes. Accurately records and tracks changes to designs following established processes with some guidance from other engineers.
Strategically and creatively innovates ways to communicate and visualize user experiences and analyzes hardware and firmware designs.
Leverages debugging skills and drive to develop innovative hardware.
Performs single‑node and rack‑level testing to confirm hardware remediation effectiveness before fleet re‑entry.
Analyzes large volumes of hardware telemetry, logs, and diagnostics data to identify systemic failure patterns and repeat offenders.
Partners with diagnostics and platform teams to enable out‑of‑band telemetry collection (e.g., BMC SEL, PCIe health indicators), integrate diagnostics into existing operational tools and workflows.