2027 Undergrad Thermal Engineering Intern/Co-Op - CA, Santa Clara, United States
Digital Design & SoC Architecture
Originally posted 30 September 2026 by the employer.
About the role
This role involves supporting the development of advanced cooling technologies for AI, high-performance computing, and data center platforms.
What you'll do
- Characterize cooling solutions, including cold plates, manifolds, heat exchangers, coolant loops, and rack-level cooling systems.
- Evaluate air-cooled and liquid-cooled platforms through thermal, airflow, coolant-flow, and pressure-drop analysis activities.
- Support laboratory testing, instrumentation setup, sensor deployment, data acquisition, and thermal validation activities.
- Develop scripts and tools that automate test execution, data processing, engineering analysis, and reporting activities.
- Conduct thermal modeling, simulation, and comparison of measured data against design expectations.
- Investigate thermal, flow, and power-related issues and collaborate with engineering teams to find solutions.
What you'll need
- Currently enrolled in a U.S.-based university pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Thermal Sciences, or a related engineering discipline.
- Knowledge or experience with heat transfer, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, thermal-fluid systems, or engineering analysis.
- Knowledge or experience with thermal management solutions, liquid cooling technologies, electronics cooling concepts, cold plates, heat exchangers, thermal interface materials, airflow management, or coolant flow systems.
- Knowledge or experience with laboratory testing, instrumentation, sensors, thermal characterization, data acquisition systems, or experimental validation methodologies.
- Knowledge or experience with CAD software such as SolidWorks or Creo.
- Knowledge or experience with CFD software, thermal simulation tools, or engineering analysis software including ANSYS Icepak, Fluent, FloTHERM, COMSOL, or OpenFOAM.
Nice to have
- Exposure to AI infrastructure, high-performance computing systems, server technologies, data center platforms, or energy-efficient cooling technologies.
Market context
This role has been open 9 days — well below the 49-day median for Hardware Systems Engineering roles.
Hardware Systems Engineering · AI ML Hardware
|
Open roles in category
947
|
Median days open
49 d
|
Median salary
$158k
|
See the full market breakdown ▾Category comparison, and who else is hiring
| Metric | AMD | All employers we track in this specialty (947 roles · 103 employers) |
|---|---|---|
| Open roles in this specialty | 44 | 947 |
| Open roles in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family | 406 | 6078 · 146 employers |
| Median days open | 62 d | 49 d (+13 d vs this employer) |
| Median salary (USD postings) | — | $158k |
Who's hiring in this category
- Intel Corporation · 70 open roles · median 29 d
- KLA Corporation · 59 open roles · median 38 d
- NVIDIA · 52 open roles · median 64 d
- Applied Materials · 50 open roles · median 58 d
- Teradyne · 48 open roles · median 22 d
- AMD (this employer) · 44 open roles · median 62 d
How we counted: 947 open Hardware Systems Engineering (AI ML Hardware) roles from 103 employers tracked in the SemiconductorJobs index, counted 10 Oct 2026. Specialty figures count only roles carrying this exact specialty label, so an employer's related work in neighbouring specialties is not included there — it is counted in the wider Software, Firmware & Systems family row. Figures refresh nightly.