IAE Software Engineer Intern - Fall 2025

Organization:
The University of South Florida (USF) Institute of Applied Engineering (IAE) provides agile, best-value engineering solutions to enhance the performance and effectiveness of its sponsors, including the Department of Defense; other federal, state, and local agencies; and industry. These solutions include hardware-and-software-based research, advanced technology development, prototypes, and technical services.

 

Position Summary

The IAE is seeking a Software Engineering Intern with an emphasis on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) to support ongoing research and development projects. The intern will collaborate directly with engineering staff and peer interns on projects involving the design, development, testing, and validation of intelligent software systems. This role provides hands-on experience in applying software engineering practices to AI/ML applications, including data handling, model experimentation, and integrating ML components into larger system architectures.

Responsibilities

• Design, prototype, and test software systems and applications.
• Build, deploy, and maintain applications and infrastructure inside the AWS Cloud.
• Participate in concept definition, use case refinement, and maturation of AI/ML-enabled systems.
• Explore, preprocess, and analyze datasets for ML model training/testing.
• Identify and evaluate machine learning algorithms, frameworks, and tools for project use cases.
• Develop prototype applications (primarily in Python, Java, or C/C++) to integrate ML models into workflows.
• Conduct experiments with ML algorithms to demonstrate feasibility and performance.
• Contribute to software/system architectures that incorporate ML components.
• Establish and maintain project documentation, including requirements, designs, analyses, and results.
• Present findings and progress to project leads and team members.

Time Commitment

• Hours of operation: 8:00am – 5:00pm, Monday–Friday.
• During Fall/Spring: 15–20 hours per week.
• During Summer: 20–29 hours per week.
• This internship is on-site in Tampa, FL (limited remote opportunities).

Qualifications

Required

• Due to this position being partially funded by the Department of Defense, U.S. Citizenship is required (Must be eligible for a security clearance).
• Junior or Senior pursuing a degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Computer Engineering, Data Science, or related fields.
• Current GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Strong background in software development and troubleshooting.
• Experience with one or more programming languages (Python, Java, JavaScript, or C/C++).
• Strong organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills.
• Ability to work in a dynamic, rapidly changing environment.

Desired

• Basic understanding of AI/ML principles (e.g., supervised/unsupervised learning, training/testing, evaluation metrics).
• Familiarity with ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn, HuggingFace).
• Experience with Linux, shell scripting, and software version control tools (Git, Bitbucket, CodeCommit).
• Knowledge of software design concepts (UML preferred).
• Experience with embedded or IoT systems is highly desirable.
• Familiarity with agile development concepts.
• Initiative and ability to work independently with minimal supervision.

Working at USF

With approximately 16,000 employees, the University of South Florida is one of the largest employers in the Tampa Bay area. We are dedicated to cultivating a talented, engaged and driven workforce that strives to be bold. Employees excel in USF‘s rich academic environment, which fosters their development and advancement. In 2025, Forbes recognized USF as one of Florida’s best large employers, ranked No. 1 among the state’s 12 public universities. Our first-class benefits package includes medical, dental and life insurance plans, retirement plan options, employee and dependent tuition programs, generous leave, and hundreds of employee perks and discounts.

About USF 

The University of South Florida is a top-ranked research university serving approximately 50,000 students from across the globe at campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota-Manatee and USF Health. USF is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a top 50 public university and the best value in Florida. U.S. News also ranks the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine as the No. 1 medical school in Florida and in the highest tier nationwide. USF is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), a group that includes only the top 3%