AIM Photonics Internship Program Builds Tomorrow's Workforce
Technical training, professional development, and industry connections support individual growth and domestic workforce development
With the demand for skilled professionals in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) design, fabrication, and packaging exceeding the current and projected talent supply over the next five to ten years, workforce development has become a critical focus for the U.S. Department of Defense and organizations it supports, like AIM Photonics. With an objective to not only drive the technological advancements that will strengthen the domestic integrated photonics industry, AIM Photonics also focuses on developing and growing the nation’s PIC workforce.
Building the talent pipeline
AIM Photonics 2024 Summer Interns (L-R): Dylan Gonzalez Alvarez, Jerome Gonzales, Elianie Nieves-Perez, Italian Johnson, Mohammed Rahat Khan, Diego Jimenez Rivera, George Eldridge, Sara Rizvi, and Sassama Hema.
AIM Photonics’ internship program is designed to provide learners with hands-on experience in integrated photonics design, development testing, and packaging. It also promotes skills development for adjacent career trajectories in the broader semiconductor talent pipeline, expanding opportunities for participants from across colleges and universities to make meaningful contributions to the U.S. advanced technology ecosystem.
“It’s more than completing work and presenting parenthetical findings at the end,” says Dr. Robert Geer, director of education and workforce development at AIM Photonics. “It’s real-world applications, it’s hands-on experiential learning at some of the best facilities in the world, with some of the best engineers and technologists in the business, and it’s not something you can get from just any internship out there.”
One-of-a kind experience
AIM Photonics interns and co-op students receive unique, hands-on training at one of the Institute’s R&D manufacturing settings either the Albany NanoTech Complex or the Test, Assembly and Packaging (TAP) facility in Rochester, New York. The program mentors advise and guide interns to technological success, while providing context to the essential skills needed to seamlessly transition from behind the bench into real-world applications.
“What attracted me the most was the availability of both the research and the technology development. Few programs have production and R&D in the same facility. This was an excellent gateway for me to see how they overlap,” said Diego Jiminez Rivera, an undergraduate student from University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, who recently completed his cohort at the TAP facility.
Mohammed Rahat Khan, an undergraduate from LaGuardia Community College in NYC stated, “I immediately applied for the internship because it was different than the kinds of opportunities I was getting. And the opportunity of getting to know a new industry motivated me the most.” Khan completed a project involving semiconductor cleanroom expansion at the Albany NanoTech Complex.
“Rahat’s ability to think creatively and work with different team members to develop plans and graphics contributed to his success,” said Heather Fariello, associate vice president of facility engineering and infrastructure at NY CREATES and Khan’s mentor. “I believe it also solidified his desire to continue as a civil engineer.”
Impactful projects
Projects are carefully chosen for each student learner, allowing for a high-level of individualization along with access and exposure to state-of-the-art tools, and work that directly contributes to the broader development of the integrated photonics ecosystem with immediate, technical relevance.
Sara Rizvi, an undergraduate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), worked on a custom project that involved mode simulations of silicon nitride and aluminum nitride materials in silicon photonics technology.
“The project goal is to use data obtained from Sara’s simulations to inform component design in a novel technology offering that AIM Photonics is working on,” said Amit Dikshit, AIM Photonics design enablement manager who served as Rizvi’s mentor.
Dikshit also supervised the technical advancements made by Elianie Nieves-Perez, an undergraduate from Jackson State University in Mississippi, whose project involved extracting characteristics of AIM Photonics’ ring resonators designs.
“High-performance, silicon nitride, ring resonators are used in various applications. They are very ubiquitous in sensor enabled devices and used in biological and chemical sensing applications. Elianie performed important work in extracting characteristics of these resonators,” Dikshit added.
Career growth
Beyond the technical expertise interns gain, they learn essential skills in teamwork, interpersonal communication, cross-cultural collaboration and advanced problem-solving. There are also valuable networking opportunities from AIM Photonics’ deep bench of member companies and collaborators, which often lead to further career advancement and in some cases continuing projects with AIM Photonics.
Javery Mann joined AIM Photonics as an electronic and photonic test and measurement engineer after completing his internship with the 2022 cohort. This year, he mentored Italian Johnson, an undergraduate in the Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Atmospheric Sciences at Jackson State University, on her project involving wafer-level electro-optic measurements of ring modulators in AIM Photonics electronic photonic design automation (EPDA) lab.
“Italian got a first-hand, up-close introduction to a cutting-edge technology discipline with a solid and sustainable career trajectory. The programming and analytical skills she learned are valuable and she knows how they can segue into what is applicable in most STEM careers,” Mann said.
To learn more about AIM Summer Internships and to apply for the 2025 Cohort, visit: www.aimphotonics.com/interships. Applications for the 2025 Summer Internship cohort are being accepted until January 3, 2025.
AIM Photonics 2024 Summer Intern Cohort
Dylan Gonzalez Alvarez, undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering at University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, Project: Set-up and validation of a benchtop automated alignment set-up for edge coupling. Mentor: Javery Mann, Electronic and Photonic Test and Measurement Engineer at AIM Photonics
George “Brewer” Eldridge, undergraduate at LaGuardia Community College, Project: Fab operations equipment and facilities support. Mentor: Steve Shaw, Senior Equipment Engineer at NY CREATES
Jerome Gonzales, undergraduate at LaGuardia Community College, Project: NEATEC workforce curriculum and equipment development. Mentor: Steve Stewart, Instructional Support Technician at the SUNY University at Albany College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering
Sassama Hema, senior in Electrical Engineering at LaGuardia Community College, Project: AIM Photonics Hands-on Photonics Education (HOPE) kits. Mentor: Jayden Lee master’s student from SUNY University at Albany College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering
Italian Johnson, undergraduate in the Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Atmospheric Sciences at Jackson State University, Project: Wafer-level electro-optic measurements of ring modulators. Mentor: Javery Mann, Electronic and Photonic Test and Measurement Engineer at AIM Photonics
Mohammed Rahat Khan, sophomore at LaGuardia Community College, Project: Facilities campus improvements. Mentor: Heather Fariello, Associate Vice President of Facility Engineering and Infrastructure at NY CREATES
Elianie Nieves-Perez, undergraduate in the Department of Chemistry, Physics, and Atmospheric Sciences at Jackson State University, Project: Extracting characteristics of ring resonators designed in AIM Photonics SiN technology. Mentor: Amit Dikshit, Design Enablement Manager at AIM Photonics
Diego Jimenez Rivera, undergraduate at University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez Project: AIM Photonics Hands-on Photonics Education (HOPE) kits. Mentor: Mark Wagner, Operations Manager at AIM Photonics’ TAP facility
Sara Rizvi, undergraduate at RPI, Project: Mode simulations of silicon nitride and aluminum nitride materials. Mentor: Amit Dikshit, Design Enablement Manager at AIM Photonic
