Hardware Engineering Internship 2027

Entangled Future; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 20,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Riverlane is offering a hardware engineering internship in Cambridge for 10 to 12 weeks, aimed at current students in technical fields. You will work alongside experienced engineers and researchers, contributing to projects in quantum computing and error correction.

You will gain hands-on experience on FPGA development, learn about architectural optimisations, and produce meaningful work with supervision and clear documentation.

Qualifications

• Must be a current student at application time in the second year or higher of a Bachelor's, or partway through a Master's/PhD.
• Studying Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Physics, Mathematics or related technical subject.
• Proficiency in Python and solid understanding of low-level architecture.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with hardware and software engineers to evaluate architectural optimisations.
• Enhance decoder architecture to improve flexibility and speed.
• Explore design approaches and evaluate benefits and trade-offs.
• Contribute to decisions balancing functionality, resources and performance.
• Communicate work through presentations and documentation.
• Develop understanding of FPGA development, quantum computing and quantum error correction.

Skills

Python

Low‑level architecture

Communication

Teamwork

Initiative

Quantum computing interest

Education

Current student in CS/EE/Physics/Math

Tools

Git

Testing & debugging tools

Job description

Hardware Engineering Internship 2027 at Riverlane, Cambridge, UK. A intern-level full time position in the Internships team, listed under research.

About the role

Our full-time summer internships give current students in technical fields the opportunity to apply their skills and expertise in an industrial setting.

You will join us at our head office in Cambridge, UK, for 10 to 12 weeks, working alongside talented software and hardware engineers, mathematicians, quantum information theorists and physicists who are experts in their fields.

You will have a dedicated supervisor and work on a project designed to make the best use of your existing skills while developing your knowledge of quantum computing and quantum error correction. We will support you in producing a meaningful piece of work that you can be proud of by the end of your internship.

Previous interns have committed code to industry-standard open-source compilers, co-authored research papers and led the design of new software tools.

What we need

• You must be a current student at the time of application, either:
• In the second or a later year of a Bachelor’s degree
• Partway through a Master’s degree
• Partway through a PhD
• You must be studying Computer Science, Electronic Engineering, Physics, Mathematics or another related technical subject
• Proficiency in Python
• A solid understanding of low-level computer architecture

Important notes

You must already have the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the internship. If you hold a UK student visa, please check that its conditions allow you to undertake this full-time internship.

• PhD students may need to temporarily step away from their PhD to complete the internship. This may affect their right-to-work status, and applicants should check their individual circumstances
• You must be available to work full-time for 10 to 12 weeks during the summer vacation period
• You will be required to sign an agreement assigning ownership of any intellectual property produced during your internship to Riverlane
• Internships are based at our head office in Cambridge, UK

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with experienced hardware and software engineers to investigate and evaluate architectural optimisations
• Enhance the decoder’s architecture to improve its flexibility and processing speed
• Explore different design approaches and evaluate their potential benefits
• Contribute to design decisions involving space and time trade-offs, balancing functionality, resource use and performance
• Communicate your work clearly through technical discussions, presentations and written documentation
• Develop your understanding of FPGA development, quantum computing and quantum error correction

Requirements

• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• The ability to take initiative and work effectively as part of a team
• A willingness to learn about FPGA development, quantum computing and quantum error correction
• Availability to work full-time for 10 to 12 weeks
• You are familiar or interested in quantum computing
• You understand optimisation concepts and performance trade-offs
• You have some knowledge of networking principles
• You have experience using version control, testing or debugging tools