ATE Engineer Intern

About the role

Astera Labs is seeking an ATE Engineer Intern to support the development, validation, and improvement of automated test solutions for advanced semiconductor products. You will work across test engineering, product engineering, firmware, hardware, and validation to help translate product requirements into reliable, measurable, and production-ready test coverage.

In this role, you will gain hands-on experience with ATE test plans, test programs, load boards, probe cards, ATE firmware, characterization, and data-driven quality improvement. You will own a scoped project that produces a reusable data package, automation script, validation improvement, or documented test workflow.

About the role

Astera Labs is seeking an Engineering Ops Technology Intern to help engineering teams work more efficiently through better tools, data, workflows, and documentation. You will work at the intersection of engineering operations, process improvement, automation, and technology enablement.

You will partner with stakeholders to understand how work gets done, identify repetitive or manual activities, and turn practical opportunities into prototypes, pilots, and reusable solutions. Your work may support areas such as engineering project visibility, log and report triage, data unification, onboarding, documentation, workflow automation, and operational reporting.

What you will do

• Review product specifications, DFT requirements, and test objectives to help define ATE test coverage.
• Support the creation and maintenance of ATE test plans, coverage matrices, checklists, characterization plans, and technical documentation.
• Develop, debug, and improve test scripts or test-program components for functional, parametric, loopback, and interface testing.
• Work with ATE firmware and tester control flows, including configuration handshakes, register or CSR access, status polling, power-cycle sequencing, and diagnostic data collection.
• Support PCIe and high-speed interface validation using loopback, PRBS, link-status, error-count, and BER-oriented test flows where applicable.
• Help bring up and validate load boards, probe cards, and related test hardware; investigate connectivity, power, reset, flash, and board-level issues.
• Run characterization across operating conditions such as voltage, temperature, process, speed, and other defined corners; organize data and summarize findings.
• Analyze yield, coverage, failure patterns, test stability, and test time to identify opportunities for better screening and lower manual effort.
• Reproduce failures, compare expected and observed behavior, and collaborate with firmware, product, hardware, and quality engineers on corrective actions.
• Support controlled release of test programs and documentation, including revision control, review evidence, handoff materials, and manufacturing readiness.
• Present the completed project, conclusions, reusable artifacts, and remaining questions to the broader engineering team.

What you will do

• Interview engineering and operations stakeholders to understand workflow pain points, dependencies, current tools, and desired outcomes.
• Map current-state processes and identify opportunities to reduce manual effort, improve handoffs, increase data visibility, or standardize execution.
• Build prototypes, scripts, dashboards, or lightweight applications that automate recurring work and make engineering information easier to use.
• Help unify, clean, and analyze data from engineering systems, project trackers, reports, logs, or spreadsheets.
• Create repeatable workflows for reporting, issue triage, project tracking, documentation, onboarding, or operational reviews.
• Support the evaluation and piloting of technology solutions, including requirements gathering, vendor or tool comparisons, security considerations, user testing, and rollout planning.
• Develop clear metrics for adoption, time saved, reduced errors, throughput, data quality, or other measurable business impact.
• Partner with Engineering, Program Management, IT, Quality, Operations, and other functional teams to validate solutions and incorporate feedback.
• Document system designs, process changes, user instructions, assumptions, and maintenance needs so solutions can be adopted by the team.
• Communicate progress, decisions, blockers, and next steps through concise updates, demonstrations, and stakeholder reviews.
• Deliver a reusable project outcome and present the solution, implementation approach, results, and recommendations at the end of the internship.

What you bring

• Enrollment in a bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. program in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, or a related field.
• Coursework, research, or project experience in digital systems, electronics, semiconductor testing, embedded systems, computer architecture, or hardware/software integration.
• Programming or scripting experience in Python, C, C++, or a comparable language.
• Familiarity with Linux or other development environments, Git, command-line tools, data analysis, and technical documentation.
• Ability to follow structured test procedures, troubleshoot with data, and explain results clearly.
• Strong ownership, curiosity, practical judgment, and willingness to collaborate across engineering functions.

What you bring

• Enrollment in a bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. program in computer science, information systems, industrial engineering, data science, electrical engineering, business analytics, or a related field.
• Coursework, research, or project experience in software development, data analysis, process improvement, automation, operations research, or technology implementation.
• Experience with Python, SQL, spreadsheets, scripting, APIs, or another tool used to analyze data and automate workflows.
• Ability to learn unfamiliar systems, organize ambiguous problems, and translate stakeholder needs into practical technical solutions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain technical work to non-specialist audiences.
• Strong ownership, curiosity, practical judgment, and willingness to collaborate across functions.

Preferred qualifications

• Exposure to automated test equipment, semiconductor test, wafer sort, final test, DFT, production screening, or OSAT workflows.
• Familiarity with PCIe, SerDes, high-speed links, PRBS, BER measurement, loopback testing, or interface diagnostics.
• Experience with lab instruments, load boards, probe cards, fixtures, power supplies, oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, or serial/I2C/SPI/UART interfaces.
• Experience developing test automation, analyzing large data sets, or building reports and dashboards for test results.
• Familiarity with embedded firmware, cross-compilation, register-level debug, flashing, or hardware bring-up.
• Experience improving test coverage, yield, reliability, throughput, or test time through structured experimentation.

Internship experience and compensation

This is a paid, hourly U.S. internship. The applicable hourly rate is determined as part of the offer process and specified in the offer letter, depending on education level ranges form $35/hour to $55/hour. U.S. interns currently receive a $500-per-week housing/relocation stipend for the duration of the internship. Interns participate in Early Career programming, including technical and professional-development sessions, community events, and an end-of-program project presentation.

Preferred qualifications

• Experience building dashboards, data visualizations, reports, workflow automations, or internal tools.
• Familiarity with project tracking, issue management, documentation, collaboration, or business-process systems.
• Exposure to data cleaning, database concepts, ETL, log parsing, observability, or data quality checks.
• Experience with Power BI, Excel automation, low-code tools, cloud services, or AI-assisted productivity tools.
• Familiarity with user research, requirements gathering, pilot design, change management, or measuring adoption and return on investment.
• Experience working with engineering, hardware, manufacturing, quality, or other technical operations teams.

Internship experience and compensation

This is a paid, hourly U.S. internship. The applicable hourly rate is determined as part of the offer process and specified in the offer letter, depending on education level ranges from $35/hour to $55/hour. U.S. interns currently receive a $500-per-week housing/relocation stipend for the duration of the internship. Interns participate in Early Career programming, including technical and professional-development sessions, community events, and an end-of-program project presentation.