Get real engineering experience before your first internship
A free map of the projects, teams, hackathons, competitions, and research programs undergrads can start or join. Each one becomes a line on your resume and a story for your interviews. Built at SFSU. Works for any engineering student.
Made by Edwin Guzman, SFSU ME '22. .
What should I do next?
Pick your year, major, and how much time you have. You get three things you can start or join. No sign-up.
Pick one of each to see your next moves.
If you're new here
First or second year? Skip ahead. Start here.
Three moves this week.
- Join one engineering or CS club's email list. SHPE, NSBE, SWE, IEEE, ASME, ASCE, ACM. Pick the one closest to your major.
- RSVP to the next hackathon or design challenge on the calendar below.
- Message one upperclassman in your major. Ask what they'd do over.
Ship one small thing.
- A Chrome extension that fixes a small annoyance.
- An Arduino sensor rig or a CAD model of something you'd actually use.
- A scraper or data viz of something you actually care about. Traffic on your block. Your sleep data.
- A subsystem on a club or competition team's project.
- A spreadsheet model or analysis of a measurement you took yourself.
Doesn't have to be code. Finishing matters more than scope.
Show up before you're ready.
- Attend the Engineering Showcase, even if you have nothing to present yet.
- Walk one career fair, even if you're not applying.
- Enter one design challenge or pitch competition. Even if you don't do well, you'll know what the next one needs.
Due in the next 60 days
A short list so you don't have to scan the whole year. Defaults to first- and second-year programs, all majors. Months are approximate. Always verify on the linked source of truth.
Microsoft Explore
Apps fall · 12-week summer internship
First- and second-year students in CS and related majors.
NASA Micro-g NExT proposals due
Proposals due Oct 27 · Test week June
Design an Artemis tool. Proposals are due in the fall.
AIAA Design/Build/Fly proposals due
Proposals due Oct 31
Start of the year-long RC aircraft competition.
What hiring managers look for
Building, leadership, and communication. Here is how to show each one before your first interview.
Building
Nothing substitutes for having shipped something real. GPA gets you in the room. What you've built is what gets you the job.
Leadership
Anyone can be a member. Few people actually run something. The gap between the two is the first thing a hiring manager sees on a résumé.
- Hold an officer role in a club (SHPE, NSBE, SWE, IEEE, ASME)
- Captain or lead a subsystem on a project team (FSAE, robotics, CubeSat)
- Mentor a freshman or run a workshop for your club
- Organize a hackathon team or a company tour
Communication
Engineers who can sell their own work get hired. The ones who can't get passed over, even when their work is better.
- Present at Engineering Showcase, don't just attend
- Write up every project: a README, a one-pager, or a short blog post
- Pitch at the SF State Pitch Competition
- Give a talk at your club or a local meetup
How to explain a project in an interview
Shipping isn't the finish line. The students who get the offer can walk an interviewer through their reasoning end to end. A lot of high-GPA candidates lose the offer right here.
Problem identification
Why this problem?
Solution design
What does it actually solve?
Iterative validation
What broke, and how did you fix it?
Analysis of shortcomings
What would you do differently?
Don't have a project yet? That's why you're starting one this semester. Build it so you can defend it. One project you can walk through end to end beats ten you can only put on a slide.
How to put a project on your resume
Explaining is verbal. Your resume and LinkedIn are what recruiters see before you ever talk. Same story, different format. The examples below are made up, so swap in your own numbers.
The resume bullet formula
What you built + how you built it + result or what it solved
LinkedIn moves most students skip
- →Add the project to the Featured section. Most students never use it. Recruiters look there.
- →Post a 4-line build story the day you ship it. Use the same answers from the four questions above.
- →Connect with anyone who saw your demo or judged your project within 48 hours. The handshake decays fast.
If you can't explain what you built in one sentence, you don't understand it well enough yet.
What to build each year
Capstone shouldn't be your first time building or presenting something real. Use the years before it to stack smaller versions.
Build something. Anything.
A Chrome extension. A 3D-printed fix for a broken hinge. An Arduino sensor rig. A scraper. A subsystem of a club project. Doesn't have to be code. No formal deliverable required, just the discipline of finishing.
Build something with a real problem statement.
Participate in a structured design challenge. Write a technical report. Present it.
Partner with industry or enter a national competition.
Treat it like a job.
Credential the work.
If you're going into civil, structural, environmental, or utilities engineering (PG&E, public works, anything that requires a stamp), register for the FE Exam in the fall. You can take it as soon as you're in your last year of an ABET-accredited program. It's the first step toward becoming a licensed Professional Engineer.
Skills to learn before your first interview
ME still needs CAD and GD&T. EE, CS, and civil have a short list too. Learn these before your first interview, not after.
Learn one CAD tool deeply
Every mechanical résumé that gets a callback lists at least one CAD tool. The free student versions aren't crippled, they're the same software industry uses. Pick one, build something with it this semester.
- SolidWorks for StudentsFree if your school has a license. Ask your engineering department.
- Autodesk Education (Fusion 360, Inventor, AutoCAD, Revit)Free with .edu verification. Fusion 360 is the easiest entry point if you've never touched CAD.
- Ansys Student Bundle (Mechanical, CFD, Discovery, Speos, more)Free direct download. Worth knowing before your first FEA-adjacent interview.
Learn GD&T before your first interview
Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing is the language of mechanical drawings in industry. Many ME programs barely cover it. Most ME undergrads first run into it in a job interview, which is too late. Spend a weekend on the basics. The investment-to-payoff ratio is absurd.
- ToolGrit GD&T Quick Reference (ASME Y14.5-2018)Free quick reference. All 12 geometric tolerance symbols, MMC/LMC/RFS, feature control frames. Bookmark it.
EE: circuits you can debug
A board you assembled, probed, and fixed beats a circuits GPA. Learn one schematic/PCB tool and one microcontroller well enough to talk through a failure.
- KiCad (free schematic + PCB)The open-source board tool. Good enough for internships and student hardware.
- Autodesk Education (Fusion electronics / EAGLE)Free with .edu verification if you already live in Fusion.
CS: one language, plus Git
You do not need every framework. You need one language you can write under a time limit, Git on a public repo, and a project you can walk through. Pipeline programs like CodePath exist so you don't have to invent the curriculum.
- CodePathFree industry-taught CS courses. The interview-prep track is the one people finish.
- MLH FellowshipPaid open-source. You contribute to a real codebase with a mentor.
Civil: drawings, plus the FE path
Civil internships still run on drawings, site sense, and whether you know the PE pipeline. Learn a civil CAD tool and decide early if the FE exam is on your path.
- Autodesk Education (AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Revit)Free with .edu verification. Civil 3D and Revit are the usual office tools.
- NCEES FE ExamIf you're heading toward PE work (civil, structural, environmental, utilities), register senior year.
The Builder's Checklist
Before you graduate, how many of these can you check?
0/11 completed
The directory
Find your next opportunity
Every program below is open to undergrads. Filter the calendar by major and type, or browse by category.
Your year, planned
Filter by major, type, pay, and time to see what to prep for. Sign up 3 to 6 months before the deadline you see here.
Months are approximate. Always verify on the linked source of truth.
Jan
3 events
AIAA SciTech Forum
Jan 11–15, 2027 · Orlando
Largest aerospace R&D forum of the year. Student rates available.
DOE SULI apps due
Summer apps due Jan 6, 2027 · Program Jun–Aug
Paid summer research at a DOE national lab.
SEO Tech Developer
Apps Jan–Mar · Program summer
Pre-internship training and placement for Black, Latino, and Native CS students.
Feb
4 events
TreeHacks (Stanford)
Feb 12–14, 2027 · 36 hrs in person
Stanford's flagship hackathon. Hardware, AI, and policy tracks.
SF Hacks (SFSU)
Feb 19–21, 2027 · SFSU campus
SFSU's own hackathon. Apply early. Priority goes to SFSU students.
Hack for Humanity (SCU)
February · 24 hrs social-good focus
Santa Clara University. Themes on community impact.
Amgen Scholars
Apps due Feb 1, 2027 · Program Jun–Aug
Paid summer research, biotech and computational tracks.
Mar
4 events
AthenaHacks (USC)
Spring · Women / non-binary focus
Beginner-friendly and mentorship heavy.
NSBE National Convention
Mar 31–Apr 4, 2027 · Boston
Largest Black engineering career fair in the country.
HackMerced (UC Merced)
Early March · 36 hrs
UC Merced's flagship hackathon.
NASA internships apps due
Summer 2027 apps due Mar 1
Paid internships at NASA centers.
Apr
6 events
HackDavis (UC Davis)
Mid-April · Social-good focus
Largest collegiate hackathon focused on social impact.
LA Hacks (UCLA)
Mid-April · 36 hrs
Flagship SoCal hackathon with strong industry presence.
AIAA Design/Build/Fly Fly-Off
Proposals due Oct 31 · Fly-off April
Year-long RC aircraft design competition.
ASME HPVC
Competition April · Teams form in fall
Human Powered Vehicle Challenge.
WERC Environmental Design
Competition early April · Register Nov–Dec
EPA/DOE-judged. Bench-scale demo plus tech report.
EPA P3 Expo
Proposals fall · Expo spring
Environmental and public-health design with grant funding.
May
3 events
NASA SUITS Test Week
Orientation Dec · Test week May at JSC
Spacesuit software tested at Johnson Space Center.
AIAA Undergrad Design Competitions
Submissions due late May
Answer a real RFP. Judged by industry and government engineers.
L'SPACE Fall cohort apps open
Apps open late Apr / May · Runs Aug–Dec
NASA's 15-week virtual academy. Fall cohort takes applications now.
Jun
3 events
NASA Micro-g NExT Test Week
Test week June at the Neutral Buoyancy Lab
Test your Artemis tool in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab.
SFSU SURF (Summer Research)
Apply spring · Program Jun–Aug
Paid summer research with SFSU faculty. Ask your professors directly.
NSF REU Programs (start)
Apply Dec–Feb · Program Jun–Aug
Paid summer research at universities nationwide. The REU finder is the way in.
Aug
2 events
Sep
5 events
Tapia Conference
September
Diversity in computing. Student travel grants and a career fair.
Meta University
Apps fall · Next summer
Summer internship for first- and second-year students. Check Meta Careers for the current cycle.
Apple internships
Apps Sep–Jan · Next summer
Software, hardware, and systems internships.
Brooke Owens Fellowship
Apps Sep 1–Oct 4 · Program next summer
Aerospace internship and mentorship for women and gender minorities.
Patti Grace Smith Fellowship
Apps Sep 1–Oct 4 · Program next summer
Aerospace internship and coaching for Black undergraduates.
Oct
8 events
NASA Micro-g NExT proposals due
Proposals due Oct 27 · Test week June
Design an Artemis tool. Proposals are due in the fall.
AIAA Design/Build/Fly proposals due
Proposals due Oct 31
Start of the year-long RC aircraft competition.
NASA BIG Idea proposals due
Proposal due Oct · Work runs through next fall
9-month program. One of NASA's most rigorous student challenges.
CalHacks (UC Berkeley)
Fall · 36 hrs in person
Berkeley's flagship hackathon. Heavy big-tech sponsor presence.
oSTEM Conference
Oct 22–24, 2026 · Albuquerque
LGBTQ+ in STEM. Career fair and research showcase.
Grace Hopper Celebration
Oct 27–30, 2026 · Anaheim
Largest gathering of women and non-binary technologists.
SHPE National Convention
Oct 28–31, 2026 · Indianapolis
Largest Hispanic and Latino engineering career fair. Offers made on site.
L'SPACE Spring cohort apps open
Apps open Oct · Runs Jan–May
NASA's 15-week virtual academy. Spring cohort opens applications in October.
Nov
5 events
MLT Career Prep priority deadline
Priority deadline Nov 1
20-month career program for Black, Latino, and Native sophomores.
SWE Annual Conference (WE)
Nov 5–7, 2026 · Boston
Society of Women Engineers. Massive career fair.
ASME IMECE
Nov 8–12, 2026 · Vancouver
International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition.
NASA Space Apps Challenge
Nov 14–15, 2026 · 48 hrs
Global hackathon using NASA open data. SF usually hosts a local site.
Kleiner Perkins Fellows
Apps Nov–Jan · Program next summer
Engineering, design, and product fellowships at top startups.
Dec
3 events
Valley Water Works apps
Apps in December · Paid summer internship
Bay Area pipeline with a guaranteed paid summer internship.
MLH Local Hack Day
Early December · Global, often local sites
MLH runs events year-round. The Seasons page is the full calendar.
NSF REU apps due
Most REU deadlines Dec–Feb
Start applications now for next summer's REU.
Every opportunity, by category
The directory. Click a category to see what's in it.
Microsoft Explore
Microsoft's 12-week summer internship for first- and second-year students in CS and related majors. Rotates software engineering and program management. Apply on the official Explore Microsoft page.
Resume line: Software engineering intern, Microsoft Explore: built and shipped a feature with a 3-person intern pod over 12 weeks.
Meta University
Meta's summer internship for first- and second-year students. The last official posting we found was for summer 2025, so check Meta's student careers page for the current cycle.
Resume line: Meta University engineering intern: finished CS training, then built a feature with a Meta product team.
Apple SWE Internships
Apple hires interns across software, hardware, and systems. Apply early in the fall.
Resume line: Engineering intern at Apple: owned a test tool the team used through a product launch.
NASA L'SPACE Academy
NASA's virtual academy. Two tracks: Mission Concept Academy (design a robotic mission concept) and NPWEE (write a real NASA-style proposal). Mentored by active NASA engineers. Cohorts run Summer, Fall, and Spring.
Resume line: Systems engineer, NASA L'SPACE Mission Concept Academy: wrote the power budget for a 6-person team's rover proposal.
SEO Tech Developer
Free 8-week intensive + placement at top tech companies. For Black, Hispanic, and Native students in CS.
Resume line: SEO Tech Developer fellow: finished an 8-week software engineering intensive, then placed into a summer internship.
CodePath
Free industry-level CS courses taught by engineers from Meta, Google, Airbnb. The interview prep track is the one that actually gets people hired.
Resume line: Completed CodePath Technical Interview Prep: solved 100+ data structures problems and passed 3 mock interviews.
Break Through Tech
Short paid sprints (three weeks) with partner companies. Smaller commitment than a full internship, easier as a first.
Resume line: Break Through Tech Sprinternship: built a data dashboard with a 4-person team at a partner company in 3 weeks.
Rewriting the Code
Community + mentorship for women in CS. Companies recruit directly out of it.
Resume line: Rewriting the Code member: paired with an industry engineer mentor for a full academic year.
MLH Fellowship
12-week paid open-source fellowship. Remote. You contribute to a real production codebase with a mentor.
Resume line: MLH Fellow: merged 6 pull requests into an open-source project used by thousands of developers.
Kleiner Perkins Fellows
Summer internship placement at top startups plus a weekly speaker series with founders and operators.
Resume line: KP Fellow: shipped a product feature as an engineering intern at a venture-backed startup.
Brooke Owens Fellowship
Paid aerospace internship + summit. One of the most respected fellowships in space.
Resume line: Brooke Owens Fellow: paid aerospace internship with an executive mentor.
Patti Grace Smith Fellowship
Summer aerospace internship + mentorship + executive coaching. Full travel covered.
Resume line: Patti Grace Smith Fellow: paid aerospace internship plus executive coaching.
MLT Career Prep (Software/Tech Track)
Twenty-month career development for Black, Hispanic, and Native CS students. Mock technical interviews, supplemental CodePath courses, and direct access to 50+ employers including Google, Amazon, Apple, and LinkedIn. Starts sophomore year, runs through senior year.
Resume line: MLT Career Prep Fellow: 20-month software engineering track with mock interviews and employer coaching.
ASME LEAD Program
Leadership cohort funded by the ASME Petroleum Division. Two in-person meetings (fall and April) plus monthly team calls. Preference for mechanical engineers but accepts petroleum, chemical, and electrical. 3.0 GPA encouraged, ASME membership preferred.
Resume line: ASME LEAD cohort member: led a team project presented at the national summit.
SMART DoD Scholarship
Full tuition plus a $30k to $46k annual stipend, a paid summer internship at a DoD facility, and guaranteed civilian DoD employment after graduation. One of the most generous undergrad scholarships in engineering. One year of post-grad service per year of funding.
Resume line: SMART Scholar: full tuition plus a paid summer internship at a Department of Defense lab.
Valley Water Works Program
Santa Clara Valley Water's pipeline program. Bi-weekly Friday sessions February through April, in-person graduation in May, then a guaranteed paid summer internship at Valley Water ($28/hr) with a staff mentor. Engineering, environmental science, hydrology, and communications tracks. Bay Area-local, often missed by SFSU students.
Resume line: Valley Water engineering intern: supported a flood-protection project with a staff engineer mentor.
GMiS Scholars Program
Scholarship plus access to the HENAAC career conference, where companies recruit Hispanic STEM students directly. Award range from $500 to $10,000. More than a scholarship: career fair, leadership programming, and a national network of Hispanic engineers.
Resume line: GMiS Scholar: national scholarship recipient, recruited at the HENAAC conference.
SHPE SF Bay Area
One of the most active SHPE chapters in the country. Events, employer connections, and people who've been exactly where you are.
NSBE SF
National Society of Black Engineers, San Francisco chapter. Strong professional development programming and a real pipeline to companies actively looking to hire.
SWE Golden Gate
Society of Women Engineers. Scholarships, mentorship, and a network that spans every engineering discipline.
IEEE Student Membership
Student memberships are cheap. The journals, the events, and the credential on your résumé are not.
ASME Student Membership
Mechanical students: membership unlocks competitions, LEAD, and IMECE student rates. Pair it with a real project, not just a card.
ASCE SFSU Student Chapter
Civil students: national ASCE plus the SFSU chapter under the San Francisco Section. Competitions, symposia, and local firm connections.
ACM San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Computing students: national ACM membership plus the SF Bay Area chapter for talks, meetups, and a professional network outside campus.
Your move: ask one upperclassman officer what they'd do over if they were a freshman again. Best 5-minute conversation you'll have all semester.
NASA Programs
The ones you were thinking of
NASA Micro-g NExT
Design and build a tool for an Artemis mission objective, then test it in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Johnson Space Center with actual NASA engineers watching.
Resume line: Designed and built a tool tested by divers in NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab (Micro-g NExT).
NASA SUITS
Design software to assist astronauts during surface exploration. Full product development cycle, proposal to working prototype.
Resume line: Built spacesuit interface software tested at NASA Johnson Space Center (NASA SUITS).
NASA TSGC Design Challenge
Work with a faculty advisor and a NASA mentor over one or two semesters to design and fabricate a solution to a NASA research objective. Explicitly built for the semester-long format.
Resume line: Led a NASA-mentored design project through the TSGC Design Challenge.
NASA BIG Idea Challenge
Nine months designing, developing, building, and testing concepts, then a 15–20 page technical paper and proof-of-concept demo. One of the most rigorous student programs NASA runs.
Resume line: Wrote a funded NASA BIG Idea Challenge proposal and built the prototype.
AIAA
Aerospace and systems engineering
AIAA Design/Build/Fly
Design, fabricate, and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric-powered RC aircraft. Requires a technical proposal, final report, and national fly-off.
Resume line: Designed the wing structure for a competition RC aircraft (AIAA Design/Build/Fly).
AIAA Undergraduate Design Competitions
Respond to a real Request for Proposals. Past topics include a Mars Ascent Vehicle and hybrid-electric propulsion. Full technical paper, evaluated by industry and government engineers.
Resume line: Answered an AIAA request for proposal with a full aircraft design report reviewed by industry judges.
ASME
Mechanical engineering
ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge
Design and build a vehicle powered only by its rider. Structural analysis, ergonomics, fabrication. The whole stack.
Resume line: Designed the frame for a human-powered vehicle that raced at ASME HPVC.
ASME Student Design Competition
Annual competition at regional and national conferences. Problem changes every year, fast-paced format.
Resume line: Built a robot for the ASME Student Design Competition and competed at regionals.
NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition
Winners receive $1,500 to attend ASME Design Technical Conference. More analytical, accessible to underclassmen who aren't ready to fabricate yet.
Resume line: Wrote an engineering design essay for the NSF/ASME Design Essay Competition.
EPA / DOE
Civil, environmental, and mechanical. Broader than you'd think.
WERC Environmental Design Contest
Serve as consulting engineers solving real-world problems. Technical Report, Oral Presentation, and Bench-scale Demonstration. Judged by professionals from the EPA, DOE, and major firms. One of the most underrated competitions in the country.
Resume line: Built a bench-scale water treatment system judged by EPA and DOE engineers (WERC).
EPA P3 Awards
Design competition for interdisciplinary teams to develop solutions to environmental and public health challenges, with a focus on underserved communities. Winning teams get actual grant funding to continue their work.
Resume line: Led an EPA P3 grant-funded sustainability design project.
IEEE
Electrical and computer engineering
IEEE MTT-Sat Challenge
Design and build RF and microwave hardware for small satellites. Promising designs undergo space environmental qualification testing and may fly on an actual CubeSat.
Resume line: Built RF hardware for a small-satellite payload through the IEEE MTT-Sat Challenge.
IEEE Future Energy Challenge
Biannual international competition on energy conservation and innovation.
Resume line: Built a power electronics prototype for the IEEE International Future Energy Challenge.
Design & Make
CAD-heavy semester contests. Low barrier, real prizes.
Autodesk Design & Make Student Semester Contests
Rolling Instructables contests run by Autodesk on a semester cadence: Remake It, Engineering in the Kitchen, Made with AI, and more. Submit a documented project using Autodesk tools. Friendly to freshmen and sophomores who don't have a club project yet.
Resume line: Entered an Autodesk design contest with a CAD model built in Fusion.
AIF Autodesk Student Design Competition
Annual flagship Autodesk competition for currently-registered undergrads and grad students. Open to all design and engineering schools. Larger scope than the Instructables contests, more polished portfolio piece.
Resume line: Designed a product in Fusion for the AIF Autodesk Student Design Competition.
SF Hacks
SFSU's own hackathon. The first one you should do. It's on your campus and built for you.
Resume line: Built a campus shuttle tracker in 36 hours at SF Hacks and demoed it to 5 sponsor judges.
TreeHacks
Stanford's flagship. Hardware, AI, health, and policy tracks. One of the hardest to get into, worth the application.
Resume line: Built a hardware prototype at TreeHacks (Stanford) in 36 hours with a team of 4.
CalHacks
Berkeley's flagship. Big-tech and seed-stage sponsors everywhere. Hiring happens live.
Resume line: Shipped a working web app at Cal Hacks (UC Berkeley) in 36 hours and pitched it to sponsor judges.
HackDavis
UC Davis runs the largest collegiate hackathon focused on social impact. Strong track for civil, environmental, and policy-minded builders.
Resume line: Built a social-good app at HackDavis with a team of 3 and demoed it to judges.
HackMerced
UC Merced. Smaller, newer, and easier to win than the flagships. Great first hackathon.
Resume line: Built and demoed my first hackathon project at HackMerced in 36 hours.
AthenaHacks
USC. Beginner-friendly, mentor-heavy. A strong first hackathon for anyone underrepresented in CS.
Resume line: Built and presented a project at AthenaHacks (USC) in 24 hours.
LA Hacks
UCLA's flagship. Strong industry presence, large prize pool.
Resume line: Built a team project at LA Hacks (UCLA) in 36 hours.
Hack for Humanity
Santa Clara University. Themes on community impact. Local to the Bay, welcoming to first-timers.
Resume line: Built a social-impact app at Hack for Humanity (Santa Clara University) in 24 hours.
NASA Space Apps Challenge
Global hackathon using NASA's open data. Lowest barrier to entry on the list. SF hosts a local node.
Resume line: Built a tool using NASA open data at the NASA Space Apps Challenge in 48 hours.
MLH Hackathon Season
Major League Hacking's full collegiate hackathon calendar. If nothing above fits your schedule, MLH always has one next weekend.
Resume line: Competed in 3 MLH hackathons in one year and shipped a project at each.
SFSU SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research)
Paid summer research with SFSU faculty. The fastest way in: email a professor whose work interests you and ask if you can join their lab.
Resume line: Undergraduate researcher, SFSU SURF: ran experiments in a faculty lab and presented a poster.
NSF REU Programs
Paid 8–10 week summer research at universities nationwide. Housing and stipend covered. Use the REU Finder to filter by discipline.
Resume line: NSF REU researcher: 10-week paid summer project, presented findings at the program symposium.
DOE SULI
Paid research at a DOE National Lab. Lawrence Berkeley, Livermore, Sandia, SLAC, and others. Three program cycles a year.
Resume line: DOE SULI intern at a national lab: built a data pipeline for a research group over 10 weeks.
Amgen Scholars
Paid summer research with a biotech and computational science focus. Hosted at top research universities.
Resume line: Amgen Scholar: summer research in a computational biology lab at a partner university.
NASA OSTEM Internships
Paid internships at NASA centers in engineering, CS, and research roles. Open to undergrads at any stage.
Resume line: NASA intern: built test fixtures for a flight hardware team at a NASA center.
LSAMP
Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation. Research opportunities, stipends, and travel funding for underrepresented STEM students.
Resume line: LSAMP scholar: funded undergraduate research plus travel to present at a conference.
Ask Your Professor
Pick one course you've done well in, read what the professor publishes, and send a short email asking if you can help with their research. This is how most undergrad research actually starts.
Resume line: Undergraduate research assistant: cleaned and analyzed lab data for a faculty member, 5 hrs a week.
Capstone works better when it solves a real problem for a real team. Here's who to reach out to. All five work for mechanical, electrical, CS, and civil students.
Adopt an existing design competition
Design competitions come with a problem statement, a timeline, and a deliverable already defined. That's 80% of your capstone scope handed to you. Pick one from the Compete section that fits your major, then find a faculty advisor or local company willing to back the team. The competition gives you external judging. The sponsor gives you materials, mentorship, and a real stake. Works for every major.
Local startups (seed to Series B)
Small companies move fast and have real problems. A team of 3–4 undergrads for two semesters is close to free engineering labor. CS pitches feature work or internal tools. ME and EE pitch hardware prototypes, test rigs, or manufacturing automation. Civil pitches data, mapping, or site-analysis work for whatever the company builds. Find the founder or CTO on LinkedIn. One paragraph: who you are, what you can build, what you need in return.
Non-profits with technical needs
Non-profits have real problems and appreciate free engineering hours. CS: civic tech groups like Code for San Francisco have backlogs of projects. ME and EE: accessibility device work with disability-rights orgs. Civil: mapping, data, and analysis for infrastructure advocacy. The scope is easier to define because there's no commercial pressure, and the ethics story reads well on a résumé.
Firms bidding on government contracts
Many Bay Area firms in defense, environmental, and infrastructure have formal capstone-sponsorship programs because it's how they evaluate future hires. Civil fits transportation, water, and energy work. ME fits aerospace subcontractors and testing labs. EE fits power, controls, and systems. CS fits firms doing government software work. Start with the company's university-partnership page, then follow up on LinkedIn.
Alumni and your professor's network
The fastest warm intro is the one your professor makes. Most engineering faculty have former students now running small teams at real companies, and a sponsored capstone is a low-risk way for alumni to stay connected to SFSU. Email one professor whose work you like: 'Do you know any alumni who might sponsor a capstone on X?' Keep it short. Works for every major.
Cold-email skeletons
Keep it short. Name the ask. Offer a deliverable.
Competition as capstone
Subject: Capstone team adopting [Competition] — looking for a local sponsor Hi [Name], I'm [Your name], a [year] [major] student at SFSU. Our team is adopting [Competition] as our senior design project this year. The problem, timeline, and deliverable are already set by the competition; we're looking for a Bay Area sponsor for materials / mentorship and a mid-semester review. Happy to send a one-pager and our team roster. Would a 20-minute call next week work? Thanks, [Your name]
Alumni ask
Subject: SFSU [major] capstone — would you sponsor / advise? Hi [Name], I'm [Your name], a [year] [major] student at SFSU. [Professor / mutual connection] mentioned you might know teams that sponsor undergrad capstones. We're looking for a real problem (hardware prototype, test fixture, internal tool, site analysis) for a 2-semester project. We can bring [skills] and need a point of contact plus a problem statement. Open to a short intro call if useful. Thanks, [Your name]
SHPE National Convention
The largest Hispanic engineering career fair in the country. Companies bring hiring managers with offer letters ready. SHPE SF Bay Area usually helps cover travel.
Resume line: SHPE National Convention: interviewed with 4 companies at the career fair.
NSBE National Convention
Career fair + technical symposium. Interviews and offers happen on-site across every discipline.
Resume line: NSBE National Convention: landed 2 follow-up interviews from the career fair.
Grace Hopper Celebration
The largest gathering of women technologists in the world. Students walk out with internship offers regularly.
Resume line: Grace Hopper Celebration: met recruiters from 10+ companies at the career expo.
Tapia Conference
CMD-IT/ACM conference. Career fair + research track. Travel grants are common. Apply early.
Resume line: Tapia Conference attendee and travel scholarship recipient.
oSTEM Conference
Career fair, research showcase, and community. Smaller scale, warmer environment, strong industry support.
Resume line: oSTEM Conference: presented a poster at the research showcase.
SWE Annual Conference (WE)
One of the largest career fairs for women engineers. Technical sessions across every discipline.
Resume line: SWE WE26: met recruiters at the career fair and attended technical sessions.
AIAA SciTech Forum
Largest aerospace research forum of the year. Present a paper, meet industry researchers, sit in on every track of aerospace you can think of.
Resume line: AIAA SciTech Forum: presented a student paper to aerospace engineers.
ASME IMECE
ASME's flagship international conference. Undergrads can present posters and attend student sessions at a discount.
Resume line: ASME IMECE: presented in the student poster competition.
SFSU Incubator (iCEV)
If you have an idea for a company or a product, SFSU has a place for that. The Institute for Community, Entrepreneurship and Venture offers mentorship, workspace, and connections to Bay Area investors.
SF State Pitch Competition
SFSU runs an annual pitch competition open to students. If you've been sitting on an idea, this is a reason to actually do something with it.
Lean Launchpad / I-Corps
NSF-backed startup program. If you've got something technical you want to commercialize, this is the fastest way to learn if it's real.
lu.ma/sf
Luma's San Francisco feed. Where most tech founders, VCs, and engineers post their events now. Check it weekly.
Luma Discover
Luma's global discovery page. Filter by SF + AI, hardware, or robotics to find niche engineering meetups.
SF Tech Week
Two-week concentration of tech events across the city, twice a year. Hundreds of talks, demos, and parties. Most are free.
Cerebral Valley
Newsletter + events covering the SF AI scene. Their in-person summits book up fast.
Shack15
Founder-focused community at the Ferry Building. Hosts demo nights, talks, and maker events open to students.
GenAI Collective
Practitioner meetup group for ML / AI engineering. SF chapter runs monthly events with working engineers.
Partiful
Where smaller, invite-ish engineering events get hosted in SF. Follow a few local builders and the invites start coming.
Meetup: SF Engineering
Old-school but still the best for discipline-specific groups: robotics, SWE, civil, hardware, IEEE chapters.
Common questions
What freshmen actually ask before they apply.
Get experience before you apply. Ship one small project this semester and join one engineering club. Then apply to a program built for first- and second-year students, like Microsoft Explore.
Start or join something small. A weekend hackathon or a subsystem on a club project team needs no application and no prior experience. Finish it and you have a resume line and a story for interviews.
Aim for the summer after sophomore year. A few programs take first- and second-year students, like Microsoft Explore. Apply in the fall, about nine months before the summer you want.
Your first job usually comes from experience you already have: an internship return offer, or a recruiter at a career fair who can see what you built. Use junior year for pipeline programs and conferences like SHPE, NSBE, SWE, and Grace Hopper.
GatorsBuild doesn't place anyone. It shows you where the experience is.
No. The site covers mechanical, electrical, computer, and civil engineering plus computer science. Hackathons and design competitions welcome every engineering major, and many are built around hardware.
Pick the one closest to your major. SHPE, NSBE, SWE, IEEE, ASME, ASCE, and ACM all have chapters at SFSU and across the Bay Area. Which club matters less than showing up and finding an upperclassman who already did what you want to do.
Yes, more than you can attend. TreeHacks at Stanford, CalHacks at Berkeley, HackDavis at UC Davis, and SF Hacks at SFSU. Most have hardware tracks, and the MLH season covers the rest of the year.
Email a professor whose work interests you and give one specific reason. Then apply to paid summer programs like NSF REU, DOE SULI, NASA internships, or SFSU SURF.
GPA gets you in the room. What you built gets you the offer. One project you can explain end to end beats a 4.0 with nothing to show.
The FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) is the first of two NCEES exams on the path to a Professional Engineer license. You take it senior year, work four years under a licensed PE, then take the PE exam. The license lets you stamp drawings and take legal responsibility for engineering work.
Who needs it: civil, structural, and environmental engineers. Also mechanical engineers going into HVAC, buildings, or public works, and electrical engineers going into power utilities like PG&E.
Who doesn't: computer science and software roles, and mechanical or electrical engineers in tech, aerospace, or semiconductors.
If you need it, register in the fall of senior year while the material is fresh. The exam is computer-based and offered year-round at Pearson VUE test centers.
No. GatorsBuild is a personal project by Edwin Guzman, an SFSU mechanical engineering grad (class of 2022). San Francisco State University doesn't run or endorse it.
"The engineers who get remembered built things. GPA gets you in the room. Your projects get you the job."
Edwin Guzman · SFSU ME ’22 · former President, SHPE SF Bay Area · Founder, Baxie