Operating Status Summer 2024:

On-site (The internship will be performed entirely at the lab.)

Student Requirements:

Interns must be solely U.S. citizens. (Dual Citizens and permanent residents are not eligible.) Students must also be at least 18 years old before the start of the internship and have their own transportation to the internship site.

Mission

To provide research, development, test and evaluation, engineering, analysis, and assessment, and fleet support capabilities for submarines, autonomous underwater systems, and offensive and defensive undersea weapon systems, and stewards existing and emerging technologies in support of undersea warfare. Executes other responsibilities as assigned by the Commander, Naval Undersea Warfare Center.

About the Lab

The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport (NUWC Newport) is the Navy's principal research, development, test, and evaluation center for submarine warfare systems, submarine weapon systems, and submarine surface ship sonar systems. Our 2,000 strong scientific and engineering staff provides expertise in science and technology; technical direction; and system design, development, test, and evaluation. NUWC Newport is on the forefront of developing and maintaining the best scientific and technical facilities for underwater research, supporting many important Navy programs, and helping minimize risk and cost of operations. We are also the designers of virtually all underwater acoustic sensors and weapons systems operating in the Fleet today, and we introduced the use of a supercomputer on board a submarine. Working closely with the Fleet, our scientists and engineers meet current and future operational requirements and solve technical problems. They also provide expertise in undersea warfare systems and technology to defense strategists and Navy planners.

What is unique about this lab?

The undersea environment is unique and NUWC Newport is one of two laboratories dedicated to developing systems for this environment.

About the Internship

We are seeking motivated college students with an interest in expanding their knowledge and developing their hands-on experience in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, particularly those fields of study that apply to the technical areas that NUWC Newport focuses on. Summer interns are provided with an environment that will foster their creativity, help them develop a problem-solving mindset, and give them the opportunity to participate in meaningful technical research. Additionally, they will gain experience in a professional workplace that specializes in STEM careers.

What will I do any given day as an intern at this lab?

Interns participate in lab functions in a number of ways including (but not limited to) assisting mentors with guided research projects; job and project shadowing with professional researchers; networking with STEM professionals and other interns; attending technical meetings; and touring labs.

What majors and disciplines are a good fit for interning at this lab?

• Applied Engineering
• Applied Mathematics
• Biology
• Chemical Engineering
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Cybersecurity
• Electrical Engineering
• Electronic Engineering
• Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Marine Biology
• Material Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Oceanography
• Physics
• Programming
• Propulsion Technology
• Systems Engineering

What kinds of projects do interns at this lab participate in?

The following are examples of projects to which interns may be assigned:

Acoustics: Sound propagation in various ocean environments including ray and mode analysis, noise reduction research, target strength analysis and coating design, specular and scattering mechanisms of undersea vehicles, transducers, transducer array and parametric sonar designs, holographic modeling, sonar prediction and acoustical systems. Acoustic metrology including calibration, test, evaluate and reference measurements, the science of electrical and mechanical excitation of acoustic transducers.

Numerical Analysis: Computational fluid dynamics, computational fluid structure interaction, dynamic simulation, sound fields, and sonar array configuration, finite element analysis, long-range acoustic detection, localization and tracking, decoy studies, underwater electromagnetism, nonlinear composites.

Communications: Electromagnetic methodologies for communication to submarines, underwater acoustic communications, optical communication systems, imaging, electro-optics, stealth.

Optics: Fiber optic sensors, arrays, umbilicals, underwater laser applications, periscope focusing, and photography.

Signal and Information Processing: Active and passive full-spectrum acoustic signal processing (detection, classification, localization, and tracking), adaptive filtering and beamforming techniques, computer-aided decision making, cognitive neuroscience, neural networks, time-frequency analysis, data compression, higher-order spectral estimation, radiated noise modeling, surface ship computer architecture, real-time software generation.

Hydrodynamics: Computational fluid dynamics, computational fluid structure interaction turbulence models, drag reduction techniques, boundary layer experimentation, hull shapes, flow fields complex incompressible flows, two body vehicle interactions.

Underwater Propulsion: Thermal and electric propulsion research including all phases of chemical and electrochemical energy sources and prime-mover research, development and evaluation of high energy and power dense systems up to 1,000 horsepower. High power electronics, motor speed controllers, power dense AC and DC motors.

Chemistry/Materials: Fuels research, electrochemistry of high density energy batteries and dynamic fuel cells, polymer chemistry, acoustical materials, composite materials and properties of materials, transduction materials.

Ocean Sciences/Technology: Studies of ocean fronts, microstructure and internal waves, coastal oceanography, sound absorption and chemical relaxation, volume scattering, bottom sediments, dynamic properties of bottom materials and interaction with sound in the water column. Ocean engineering applications, structural mechanics, test platforms, underwater range technology, sensors.

Systems Engineering: Simulation-based design, submarine and surface ship sonar, underwater weapons, countermeasures, targets, underwater ranges, weapon system integration and control, submarine electromagnetics, weapon launchers.