Group 07-75 | CO-OP | Systems Engineering | January to June 2026

Position Description

The Systems Engineering Group seeks a motivated AI/ML Intern to help implement a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline to enable natural language queries that return accurate and structured outputs.

The successful candidate should have at least a junior standing in their engineering field with coursework or projects in machine learning, databases, or natural language processing.

Responsibilities

• Work with the engineering team to understand database schema
• Implement data ingestion and embeddings into a vector store.
• Set up a RAG pipeline (e.g., using LangChain, LlamaIndex, or Haystack) connected to the SQL database.
• Develop simple prompts and queries to return structured data from natural language questions.
• Test the system with real engineering queries and improve retrieval accuracy.
• Document implementation steps and create a “how-to” guide for future engineers.

Qualifications

Required:

• • Currently pursuing or recently completed a degree in Computer Science, Data Science, Electrical/Computer Engineering, or related field.
  • Familiarity with Python programming and working with APIs
  • Basic understanding of SQL databases (queries, joins, filtering).
  • Coursework or project exposure to machine learning or NLP.
  • Eagerness to learn and ability to work independently with guidance.

Preferred:

• Familiarity with vector databases
• Exposure to LLM frameworks (LangChain, LlamaIndex)
• Interest in electrical parts/cable assemblies (helpful but not required).

Key Skills

• Python programming
• SQL querying
• Basics of embeddings and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)
• Documentation and communication

Internship Details

• Duration: 6 months
• Location: on-site
• Start date: Jan 2026

Compensation for 2025 (will be reviewed for 2026)

• Technical Co-Op: $24.50 – $31.00 per hour (based on year in school)
• Administrative Co-Op: $21.50 – $25.00 per hour (based on year in school)

Selected candidate will be subject to a pre-employment background investigation and must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret level DoD security clearance.

MIT Lincoln Laboratory is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, or genetic information; U.S. citizenship is required.

Requisition ID:  42396