Post-Secondary Student Trainee Engineering and Architecture

Eligibility Requirements

US Citizenship

Career Category

Engineer

Math and Statistics

Job Summary

The mission of the US Army Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) is to provide test and test support services for authorized customers, within DoD and outside DoD, including government and non-government organizations, domestic and foreign. Provide comprehensive test and training both real and simulated; provide expert knowledge and technical services including instrumentation application, facility operations, manufacturing and fabrication; exploit emerging technologies; and develop leading edge instrumentation and test methodologies.

Post-secondary students hired under this announcement will initially be appointed to a term appointment in competitive service for a period expected to last more than 1 year not to exceed 4 years; they may be non-competitively converted to a career or career-conditional appointment within 120 days of successfully completing the qualifying academic program.

Positions are open to current students pursuing a qualifying degree or certificate in an accredited high school, college (including 4-year colleges/universities, community colleges, and junior colleges); professional, technical, vocational, and trade school; advanced degree programs; or other qualifying educational institution on at least a half-time basis (as defined by the institution in which the student is enrolled). Short-term training programs (e.g., several two-week programs completed) are not considered an academic course of study.

For this internship, you must be able to work in Aberdeen, MD full-time or part-time and year-round.

For this internship, you must be a current student majoring in: Engineering (Various Disciplines), Computer Science, Data Analytics, Mathematics or Statistics.

This intern position is designed to prepare a Student Trainee for employment after graduation as an Engineer, Data Scientist, Mathematician or Statistician. Interns will be assigned tasks designed to increase familiarity with the target occupation in a real-world work environment.

Student Interns must continue to meet the requirements throughout the duration of the appointment. Incumbents will be required to provide proof of continued enrollment and good standing (as defined by the educational institution), each semester or grading period throughout the internship program. Failure to do so will result in termination of the appointment.

You may be non-competitively converted to a career­ conditional or career appointment within 120 days to an: GS-0801-7/9/11/12 career ladder position.

The full performance level (FPL) of the position is NH03.

Job Responsibilities

Post-Secondary Student positions provide for development and training. Assignments become more responsible as the incumbent increases knowledge and skills through work experience and academic training. As an intern, you will be assigned to a senior engineer or group of engineers. You will be assigned tasks designed to familiarize you with different aspects of the occupation. Tasks will vary depending on the senior engineer's current workload, but may include the following: Assist senior engineers who are performing engineering or scientific work involving research, experimentation, survey, design, development, investigation, computation, standardization testing, etc. Identify and report errors, inconsistencies, and other deficiencies in technical data encountered in assignments. Make calculations for noncomplex electrical and mechanical systems. Assemble data, such as plans, outline specifications and design analysis.   

Possible Duties per Experience: 

Engineering/Science: 

• Perform a variety of standardized and non-standardized engineering tasks to accomplish or provide technical support on assigned projects.
• Assist in design analysis and modifications by compiling, computing, tabulating and making graphic or model presentations of pertinent data
• Conducting tests on materials and equipment, which involves collecting and preparing samples, adjusting and operating equipment, recording instrument readings and evaluating test data. 

Data Science: 

• Conducts assessments of ATC’s current data posture and provides timely and technically sound solutions in support of data convergence, data modernization, and cloud migration.
• Supports the development of a knowledge management framework within ATEC that helps synchronize points of contacts, lines of effort, capabilities, networks, processes, and T&E.
• Gathers critical knowledge to help paint a picture of the current ATC information environment.
• Assists the ATC CDAO with developing and enhancing work processes across the entire Business Mission Area for ATEC to include T&E.

Job Qualification

Specialized Experience

Education: 
Engineer:
A. Bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in engineering. To be acceptable, the program must: (1) lead to a bachelor's degree (or higher degree) in a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET); OR (2) include differential and integral calculus and courses (more advanced than first-year physics and chemistry) in five of the following seven areas of engineering science or physics: (a) statics, dynamics; (b) strength of materials (stress-strain relationships); (c) fluid mechanics, hydraulics; (d) thermodynamics; (e) electrical fields and circuits; (f) nature and properties of materials (relating particle and aggregate structure to properties); and (g) any other comparable area of fundamental engineering science or physics, such as optics, heat transfer, soil mechanics, or electronics.
OR
B. Combination of Education and Experience: College-level education, training, and/or technical experience that furnished (1) a thorough knowledge of the physical and mathematical sciences underlying engineering, and (2) a good understanding, both theoretical and practical, of the engineering sciences and techniques and their applications to one of the branches of engineering. The adequacy of such background must be demonstrated by one of the following:1. Professional registration or licensure - Current registration as an Engineer Intern (EI), Engineer in Training (EIT), or licensure as a Professional Engineer (PE) by any State, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Absent other means of qualifying under this standard, those applicants who achieved such registration by means other than written test (e.g., State grandfather or eminence provisions) are eligible only for positions that are within or closely related to the specialty field of their registration. For example, an applicant who attains registration through a State Board's eminence provision as a manufacturing engineer typically would be rated eligible only for manufacturing engineering positions.
2. Written Test - Evidence of having successfully passed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination, or any other written test required for professional registration, by an engineering licensure board in the various States, the District of Columbia, Guam, or Puerto Rico.
3. Specified academic courses - Successful completion of at least 60 semester hours of courses in the physical, mathematical, and engineering sciences and that included the courses specified in A above. The courses must be fully acceptable toward meeting the requirements of an engineering program.
4. Related curriculum - Successful completion of a curriculum leading to a bachelor's degree in an appropriate scientific field, e.g., engineering technology, physics, chemistry, architecture, computer science, mathematics, hydrology, or geology, may be accepted in lieu of a degree in engineering, provided the applicant has had at least 1 year of professional engineering experience acquired under professional engineering supervision and guidance. Ordinarily there should be either an established plan of intensive training to develop professional engineering competence, or several years of prior professional engineering-type experience, e.g., in interdisciplinary positions.

This is a student internship opportunity. Your transcripts are a required part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document.

*Desired Majors*: 

• Mechanical Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Data Science, and Video Game Design

*Desired Education/Skills: Does not need to have all, but interested in students interested/experienced in the following*

• Data Science: 
  • Experience working with large and complex data sets and performing extensive analysis through pivot tables and interactive visualizations.
  • Knowledge of data management includes data collection, data reduction, storage and delivery, and access control. 
  • Skilled as an analytical and creative thinker, an innovative problem solver, self-motivated and proactive and highly organized. 
• Engineering: 
  • Instrumentation
  • Mechanical Design
  • Automotive
  • 3D Printing
  • Testing
  • CAD
  • Electronics
  • Communication/Radio Frequency Analysis
  • Power Systems
  • Software Development 
• Computer: 
  • Computer Design
  • C++
  • Python 
  • SQL
  • MATLAB Programming
  • PowerBI
  • Programming Development 
  • Excel 
  • Data Analytics
  • Video Game Design 
  • Programming M and S

HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED. You will be evaluated based on your level of competency in the following areas:

You will be evaluated based on how well you meet the qualifications listed in this vacancy announcement. Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, transcripts, supporting documents). You will be assessed on the following competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics):

• Computer Skills
• General Engineering
• Manages and Organizes Information
• Written and Oral Communication

Conditions of Employment

• This position requires the obtainment and maintainment of a Secret security clearance.      
• This position has a Temporary Duty (TDY) or business travel requirement of 5% of the time.   
• This is a term position intended to last up to 12 months with the possibility of an extension up to three years. 
• Post-Secondary Student Participants must be at least 18 years of age.
• Post-Secondary Student Participants must maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 2.5 or higher.
• Post-Secondary Student Participants must sign a Post-Secondary Student Agreement.  
• Post-Secondary Student Participants must be able to work in Aberdeen, MD full-time or part-time and year-round.
• Must be a current student enrolled full-time in an accredited college, professional, technical, vocational, or trade school pursuing a qualifying degree or certificate