OPTICS AND EO/IR ENGINEERING INTERN

Imaging Technology Branch | Fort Belvoir, Virginia

Organization U.S. Army DEVCOM C5ISR Center, Research and Technology Integration Directorate Branch Imaging Technology Branch Duty Location Fort Belvoir, Virginia — Washington, D.C. metropolitan area Position Student internship in optical engineering, applied physics, and electro-optical/infrared technology Schedule and Term SUMMER 2027 Appointment Internship program, pay plan, grade, compensation, and eligibility requirements to be confirmed by servicing Human Resources

The Opportunity

The Imaging Technology Branch is seeking motivated undergraduate and graduate students who want to apply optics and physics to real technical problems facing the U.S. Army. Army imaging systems must operate in conditions that are very different from a classroom laboratory: limited light, thermal backgrounds, dust, vibration, temperature extremes, constrained size and weight, moving platforms, long ranges, and targets that do not cooperate. Our engineers need strong analysis, careful experiments, and creative technical ideas to understand these challenges and develop better solutions.

As an intern, you will join a team developing and evaluating electro-optical and infrared (EO/IR) imaging technology. You will work on a defined technical project that supports an active Army need while learning from leading government experts in infrared imaging, optical lens design, sensor performance, radiometry, optical testing, and system integration. You will not simply observe. With mentoring and appropriate supervision, you will build models, conduct measurements, analyze data, document results, and brief what you learned.

The internship is designed to connect university coursework with practical engineering. Project scope will be matched to your academic background, experience, and internship duration. Students who are curious, hands-on, and willing to work through unfamiliar problems are strongly encouraged to apply, even if they have not previously worked with military systems or infrared optics.

About the Organization

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR) Center develops and integrates technologies that improve Soldiers’ ability to sense, understand, decide, and act. Within the Research and Technology Integration Directorate, the Imaging Technology Branch advances imaging optics and EO/IR sensor technologies for day, low-light, short-wave infrared, mid-wave infrared, and long-wave infrared applications.

Branch personnel combine optical engineering, physics, detectors, electronics, image processing, mechanical design, modeling, and laboratory testing to mature new technology and provide independent technical expertise to Army research and acquisition programs. Interns become part of this multidisciplinary environment and see how technical decisions move from equations and simulations to laboratory hardware and field-relevant systems.

Technical Problems You May Help Solve

Depending on current mission needs and the student’s background, internship projects may address questions such as:

• How should an imaging lens be configured to achieve the required field of view, resolution, sensitivity, package size, and operating temperature?
• How do diffraction, aberrations, detector sampling, focus, motion, atmospheric effects, and image processing combine to determine what an EO/IR sensor can resolve?
• Which infrared optical materials and coatings provide acceptable transmission, image quality, durability, cost, and thermal behavior?
• How can an infrared lens remain focused as the sensor and optical assembly move through changing temperatures?
• How do stray light, internal reflections, thermal emission, cold-stop alignment, or detector nonuniformity reduce image contrast and sensitivity?
• How should engineers measure MTF, distortion, boresight, focal length, wavefront error, spectral response, radiometric response, noise, or thermal sensitivity in the laboratory?
• How can test data be processed and compared with optical models to diagnose unexpected sensor performance?
• What technical trade offers the best balance among performance, size, weight, power, cost, schedule, producibility, and risk for an Army application?

Intern assignments will involve work suitable for the student’s level and authorized access. Specific mission details and technical data will be handled in accordance with applicable security and information-protection requirements.

What You Will Do

• Work with a technical mentor to define a project objective, approach, schedule, and measurable deliverables.
• Apply geometrical optics, physical optics, radiometry, detector physics, mathematics, and engineering judgment to an Army-relevant imaging problem.
• Build or modify first-order and detailed optical models involving focal length, field of view, aperture, f-number, wavelength, image quality, distortion, illumination, and packaging constraints.
• Learn and use tools such as Zemax OpticStudio, CODE V, MATLAB, Python, LabVIEW, or equivalent software as appropriate for the assignment.
• Assist with optical and EO/IR laboratory activities, including setup, alignment, calibration, data collection, troubleshooting, and safe operation of equipment such as collimators, cameras, targets, blackbody sources, integrating spheres, interferometers, radiometers, and motion stages.
• Help characterize lenses, cameras, detectors, or integrated sensors using measurements such as MTF, resolution, focus, distortion, boresight, radiometric response, noise, nonuniformity, or spectral response.
• Analyze experimental data, compare results with theory or simulation, quantify uncertainty, identify limitations, and recommend next steps.
• Maintain an engineering notebook or equivalent project record that captures assumptions, configurations, procedures, code, results, and conclusions.
• Participate in technical discussions, design reviews, laboratory demonstrations, and multidisciplinary team meetings.
• Prepare a final technical report, briefing, poster, software tool, test procedure, model, or other agreed project product and present the work to branch personnel.

What You Will Learn

• Infrared optical design: Learn how visible, short-wave infrared, mid-wave infrared, and long-wave infrared systems differ in materials, detectors, thermal background, f-number, coatings, packaging, and test methods.
• Lens design from experienced practitioners: Receive guided exposure to first-order layout, aberration control, glass and infrared-material selection, optimization, tolerancing, athermalization, stray-light control, and design-for-manufacture from experts who develop and evaluate Army imaging systems.
• Optical-design software: Learn a disciplined workflow for setting system requirements, constructing lens models, optimizing performance, and interpreting spot diagrams, wavefront error, MTF, distortion, relative illumination, and tolerance results.
• EO/IR system thinking: Understand how optics, focal-plane arrays, electronics, calibration, image processing, mechanics, environment, and the human observer interact to determine useful sensor performance.
• Laboratory practice: Develop hands-on experience with optical alignment, calibrated sources and targets, instrumentation, measurement uncertainty, repeatable procedures, data quality, and laboratory safety.
• Technical decision-making: Learn how Army engineers balance performance against size, weight, power, cost, schedule, risk, producibility, and operational constraints.
• Professional communication: Practice writing technical documentation and presenting conclusions to scientists, engineers, project leaders, and other stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications

• Current enrollment in an accredited bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral program in optical engineering, optics, applied physics, physics, engineering physics, or a closely related scientific or engineering discipline.
• Completion of foundational coursework appropriate to academic level in calculus and physics; coursework in optics, electromagnetism, modern physics, imaging, lasers, instrumentation, or programming is strongly useful.
• Academic standing and enrollment status that satisfy the requirements of the applicable internship or student-employment program.
• Interest in solving practical technical problems through a combination of analysis, modeling, experimentation, and teamwork.
• Ability to communicate clearly, ask questions, document work, accept technical feedback, and follow laboratory and information-security procedures.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to meet the access, suitability, and security requirements applicable to the internship.

Desired Qualifications

• Coursework or project experience in geometrical optics, physical optics, imaging science, radiometry, detectors, lasers, spectroscopy, optical instrumentation, or image processing.
• Experience from a laboratory course, research group, capstone team, makerspace, technical club, internship, or independent project involving optical hardware or imaging data.
• Familiarity with Zemax OpticStudio, CODE V, OSLO, FRED, LightTools, MATLAB, Python, LabVIEW, C/C++, or comparable engineering tools.
• Experience collecting, plotting, fitting, and interpreting experimental data or estimating measurement uncertainty.
• Interest in infrared imaging, lens design, optical testing, sensor modeling, defense technology, or public-service engineering.
• Evidence of initiative, reliability, curiosity, and persistence when working through unfamiliar technical problems.

A Successful Internship

1. Learn the mission and tools: Complete onboarding and required training; understand the project’s Army relevance; and become familiar with the laboratory, software, data, and engineering practices needed for the assignment.
2. Own a meaningful technical task: Complete a bounded analysis, model, experiment, test method, or software capability that directly supports the branch’s technical work.
3. Produce reproducible results: Maintain organized files and records, document assumptions and configurations, evaluate uncertainty, and explain where results are strong or limited.
4. Communicate the outcome: Deliver a clear final product and brief the technical approach, results, lessons learned, and recommended next steps.

Mentorship and Professional Development

Each intern will be paired with a technical mentor and integrated into an engineering team. Mentors will provide project context, teach relevant analysis and laboratory methods, review work, and help the student connect theory with practical system behavior. Interns may observe or participate in technical reviews, demonstrations, seminars, and discussions with specialists across optics, detectors, electronics, image processing, mechanical engineering, and Army acquisition.

This is an opportunity to learn infrared optical and lens design from leading experts while contributing useful work—not a requirement to arrive as an expert. The strongest candidates bring sound fundamentals, intellectual curiosity, care in the laboratory, and the willingness to learn.

Work Environment and Conditions

• Primary duty station is Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The internship is expected to include substantial on-site laboratory and team collaboration; any telework eligibility depends on mission, security, and organizational policy.
• Work is performed in office and laboratory environments and may require standing at optical benches, handling delicate equipment, following laser-safety controls, and wearing required personal protective equipment.
• Limited travel may be possible for field tests, demonstrations, technical meetings, or conferences, depending on project needs, funding, internship duration, and authorization.
• Interns must protect government equipment, data, and information and follow all applicable safety, cybersecurity, export-control, and security procedures.

Application Information

• How to apply: Submit a résumé to Winona Esher, winona.c.esher.ctr@army.mil
• Recommended materials: Résumé; unofficial transcript; and a brief statement describing your interest in optics or EO/IR technology, relevant coursework, laboratory or programming experience, and the type of technical problem you would like to work on.
• Internship dates: Summer 2027
• Application deadline: Open until filled
• Work schedule: Full-time, onsite
• Questions: Ms. Winona Esher, winona.c.esher.ctr@army.mil