UIUC Research Park Intern - Embedded Systems Software, Summer 2026

Rivian and VW Group Technology•Normal, IL

5h•$33 - $40•Onsite

About The Position

As a Software Engineering Intern, you will support the Infotainment Platform Enablement team focused on next-generation infotainment platforms. The team enables early hardware bring-up, develops manufacturing validation software, and builds system-level workload emulation and diagnostics frameworks to de-risk high compute automotive platforms well ahead of production. This role offers hands-on exposure to embedded systems, hardware-software integration, vehicle workload emulation, and large-scale diagnostics telemetry systems running on cutting-edge compute platforms.

Requirements

Currently enrolled in a full-time degree program in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related field (UIUC)
Strong programming skills in C/C++ and/or Python
Understanding of embedded systems fundamentals
Must be located in Champaign, IL and able to work out of our office in the Research Park.
Must be available for 40 hours per week in the summer and 20 hours per week in the Fall and Spring.
Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies internships & co-ops are experiences optimized for student candidates. To be eligible, you must be an undergraduate or graduate student in an accredited program during the entire internship or co-op term. If you are not pursuing a degree, please see our full-time positions at https://rivianvw.tech/#careers. Note that if your university has specific requirements for internship programs, it is your responsibility to fulfill those requirements.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to embedded platform architecture (GPU, PCIe, camera pipelines, high-speed interfaces)
Prior experience with high-compute platforms such as NVIDIA, Qualcomm, or equivalent SoCs
Coursework or internship experience involving: Camera / Display / Audio subsystems WiFi / Bluetooth / networking interfaces Linux-based embedded systems
Experience with telemetry, data processing, or analytics tools (e.g., Databricks or equivalent data platforms) is a plus

Responsibilities

Contribute to the design and implementation of a Software Application Framework for infotainment and validation systems
Support hardware bring-up and validation of Electrical Control Units (ECUs)
Develop test utilities and manufacturing software in C/C++ and Python
Assist in emulating vehicle workloads to validate system behavior and power/performance characteristics
Debug hardware and software integration issues across subsystems (camera, display, audio, connectivity, sensors)
Collect, analyze, and visualize diagnostics telemetry data to support root cause analysis
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to gather requirements and deliver scalable solutions