Operating Status Summer 2024:

Students will be able to participate on-site, virtually, or a hybrid of the two. Decisions for each student will be made on an individual basis at the discretion of the Mentor’s chain of command and will be based on the proposed work/project.

Student Requirements:

SEAP Students must be 16 years old on or before the 15th of May each year, be solely U.S. citizens, and have the ability to obtain a favorable FBI background check prior to start date. (Permanent residents and dual citizens are not eligible.) Students must also have their own housing and transportation to the site.

Mission

To provide transparency to warfighting readiness through data analytics and assessment, engineering the Fleet’s Live-Virtual-Constructive training environment, and assuring the accuracy of measurements.

About the Lab

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Warfare Centers are the Navy's principal research, development, test and evaluation, analysis and assessment activities for ship and submarine platform and machinery technology for surface combat systems, ordnance, mines, and strategic systems products and support. As part of NAVSEA, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Corona Division is one of the Navy's newest federal labs and is responsible for gauging the warfighting capability of weapons and integrated combat systems, through assessment of systems' performance, readiness, quality, supportability, and the adequacy of training. The Navy, Marine Corps and other military agencies rely on NSWC Corona to validate whether complex weapons and combat systems work properly; whether their measurements are accurate and the calibrations are right; and whether their training is effective in preparation for the fight. With nearly 2,400 scientists, engineers, support staff and contractors, the command’s support to the Fleet, program managers and warfighters has saved the Navy tens of millions of dollars by providing decision makers with accurate, unbiased information used to resolve problems early in the development cycle. Corona has four departments that support a subset of the Navy's chartered technical capabilities, which, in collaboration with the other warfare centers, form a strategic and synergistic team ready to meet the challenges of the future. The Warfare Center is home to three premiere national laboratories and assessment centers: the Joint Warfare Assessment Lab; the Measurement Science and Technology Lab; and the new Daugherty Memorial Assessment Center.

What is unique about this lab?

NSWC Corona values your quality of life and a work/life balance. We offer our civilian employees a flexible schedule, competitive salaries and generous benefits in an informal workplace that is home to three premier federal laboratories.

About the Internship

We are seeking motivated high-school students with an interest in expanding their knowledge and developing their hands-on experience in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Summer interns are provided with an environment that will foster their creativity, help them develop a problem-solving mindset, and give them the opportunity to participate in meaningful technical research while working with and applying STEM concepts learned in their educational journey. The work assignments at NSWC Corona are interesting, rewarding and essential to the Department of Defense. Additionally, they will have an opportunity to demonstrate their career potential within our technical community, and gain experience in a professional workplace that will continue to engage, motivate, and inspire the student to propel into the next phase of a STEM career.

What will I do any given day as an intern at this lab?

Interns participate in lab functions in a number of ways including (but not limited to) assisting mentors with guided research projects; job and project shadowing with professional researchers; network with other interns and STEM professionals; attending technical meetings; group mentoring sessions; team and leadership development; touring labs; and other professional development activities.

What majors and disciplines are a good fit for interning at this lab?

The primary subjects of interest include:

• Applied Mathematics
• Calculus
• Chemistry
• Civil Engineering
• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Manufacturing Technology
• Mathematics
• Physical Science
• Physics
• Programming
• Robotics
• Statistics and Probability

What will I learn as an intern at this lab?

As part of the internship, you may work individually or work in a small group with other highly motivated interns. The projects that the groups are working on are designed to help solution or contribute to a solution to either real-world warfighter challenges or other real-world technical challenges. You will get hands-on experience supporting our current projects, experiments, test and engineering evaluations, cybersecurity, data analytics, tool development, and other STEM activities under the guidance of experienced engineering and science mentors. You will learn research processes, protocols, brainstorm potential solutions, and learn about important and necessary ways we support our warfighters.

What kinds of projects do interns at this lab participate in?

NSWC Corona has four technical departments that support the science and engineering needs of our warfighters.

• The Acquisition and Readiness Assessment (AR) Department serves as the Navy’s Independent Assessment agent to assure disciplined application of systems engineering, risk management, quality, and management principles for development, production, and sustainment of defense systems.
• The Measurement Science (MS) and Engineering Department at NSWC Corona is designated as the Navy's Test and Monitoring Systems technical advisor responsible for disseminating calibration guidance to over 2,750 personnel across the Naval enterprise, and ensuring accurate and traceable measurements to international standards to reduce the risk of wrong test decisions and improve Fleet lethality.
• The Performance Assessment (PA) Department serves as the independent analysis and assessment agent across several warfare areas including Air Defense, Integrated Air and Missile Defense, Surface, Strike, and, Cyber. Many of these employees conduct their work onboard the Navy ships along with the Fleet!
• The Range Systems (RS) Engineering Department builds instruments and supports DoD test and training ranges worldwide. They have personnel working around the world in places like Fallbrook CA, Orlando FL, Virginia Beach VA, Cherry Point NC, Fallon NV, Beaufort SC, and Honolulu HI.

Some projects that our SEAP Interns have worked on during the summer:

• Performing machining, inspection, additive manufacturing, and assembly operations to support the repair and manufacture of Navy and Marine Corps Special Interface Gages.
• Using HAAS vertical mills and lathes which incorporated CAD and manufacturing tools such as Solidworks and MasterCam to perform in-process and final inspections on parts fabricated in the Precision Machining & Tooling shop.
• Assisting with set-up and certification of gas standards using gas chromatography.
• Measuring the percent of shrinkage from expected and actual 3D models created by the MakerBot due to the cooling of the plastic, and then take that percent shrinkage into account in measurements to design various new 3D pieces.
• Researching state of the art computer assisted precision measurement methods and equipment for large-scale applications, such as Laser Trackers and Gantry Coordinate Measuring Machines (CMM).