Open Source Bioreactor Platform - OSPO Fall Internship Program

Department Overview:

The Open Source Program Office (OSPO) is looking to connect interns with meaningful open-source projects as part of a new cohort of the internship program in collaboration with Madison College. During the internship, students will join a mentored open source project, participate in an initial training session, and weekly check-ins with the Open Source Program Office, and learn crucial skills related to managing open source software projects and growing software user communities.

Anticipated Start Date:

9/14/2026

Anticipated End Date (If Applicable):

11/20/2026

Remote Work Eligibility Detail:

Partially Remote

 

Anticipated Hours Per Week:

Minimum: 10 Maximum: 15

Schedule:

Internship work schedules will be established in collaboration with the project mentors, with a general expected commitment of 10-15 hours/week. In addition to the work schedule established with the project lead, interns will participate in a weekly group session with the OSPO for check-ins, trainings, and guest speakers.

Salary/Wage Range/Lump Sum:

Minimum: $15.00 Maximum: $17.00

Number of Positions:

1

Qualifications:

UW-Madison and Madison College undergraduate and graduate students with applicable backgrounds in any field are eligible to apply. Students must be enrolled in a degree program during the calendar year with at least one semester remaining after the internship’s conclusion.

Application materials should include:
- A one-page cover letter that highlights your qualifications based on skills identified in the project listing and your interest in open source broadly.
- A resume that includes your name, school email address, phone number, field(s) of study (major, minor, degree, certificate), relevant coursework, extracurricular activities, expected graduation date, relevant sample work (ex: GitHub link, personal website, etc.) and any relevant work or research experience.
-The names and contact information of three references.

Submit a resume, cover letter, and three references as part of your application.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

CAD, additive manufacturing, soldering, PCB design a plus, Python/C++ development

Position Summary/Job Duties:

A cross-disciplinary team within the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, including the GLBRC Bio Automation Lab, Experimental Fermentation Lab, and Information Services team are developing an open-source bioreactor platform that will meet the following requirements:
1. Be inexpensive to manufacture (<$300 per reactor including controllers) that can continuously monitor microbial growth, provide heating and stirring control, automated fluid path for fed batch, turbidostat, and chemostat type workflows, and modular design upgrade with additional sensors and interfacing with other automation.
2. Can be arrayed for flexible/novel experimental design
3. Software with a well-documented API for ease of integration with LIMs, data repositories, and AI agents.
4. All hardware and software open source and publicly available

We have assembled proof of concept bioreactor arrays based on pre-existing designs (Wong et al., Nature Biotechnology volume 36, pages614–623 (2018)) and now have a road map for initial release of a platform that will meet above requirements and can be released to GLBRC investigators and broader UW community for testing, remixing and building additional capabilities. Personnel support in the form of an intern from the UW Open-Source Program Office will accelerate delivering this platform to the broader UW community.

The intern will be given a specific submodule of the bioreactor build as a self-contained delivery. Current priorities that an OSPO intern can choose as their product: 1. Integrating a load cell module that can detect mass of liquid transfer into and out of the bioreactor cluster and be used for rapidly calibrating pumps and building error detection and correction loops for liquid handling routines. 2. Create custom fixturing/shielding to enable quick assembly of bioreactor clusters and associated peristaltic pump assemblies. 3. Designing and fabricating a custom manifold, purpose built for rapid arraying of bioreactors and specifically for adaptive lab evolution workflows.

The intern will generate design documents including PCB design files, wiring diagrams, CAD files, and firmware in a module specific repo in GLBRC GitLab group managed by the GLBRC Bio Automation Lab. The intern will be responsible for drafting any testing plans and presenting plans to the rest of the team and then responsible for independently testing their contribution for meeting overall performance requirements. The end state will be progress on a submodule that will be integrated into bioreactor array prototype