Software Engineer Intern

About the role

HyperLight is at the forefront of the commercialization of thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) integrated photonics - a material and process technology that is enabling high-performance, scalable optical components across AI/datacom infrastructure, hyperscale computing, quantum computing, sensing, and beyond. Founded in 2018 and backed by leading venture capital, we've built a team and a platform focused on real-world mass deployment of TFLN photonics technology. At the core of our work is the TFLN Chiplet™ platform — a modular, integrated architecture designed for scalability, manufacturability, and seamless integration into complex systems. It offers a rare combination of extraordinary performance and industrial readiness, enabling system developers across applications to deploy the technology fast and ready. We partner with our customers and suppliers from conceptualization, design, and prototyping phases, all the way through mass production to ensure smooth and rapid deployment of TFLN photonic technology. We believe our platform is the key, in the golden age of integrated photonics, to empower humanity to the next level. We assembled a world class team covering engineering, business, and operations. We believe in the power of integrity, innovation, collaboration, and pragmatic solutions. Our diverse team thrives on challenges and is united by a shared commitment to excellence. We take pride in tackling complex challenges with curiosity, humility, and a deep sense of care for one another.

As HyperLight continues to expand, we are looking for a Software Engineer Intern to join our team. This position offers a unique opportunity to develop internal software applications and tools that support our R&D data analytics work. The role involves hands-on experience building and maintaining software that helps teams collect, manage, analyze, and visualize experimental and production data. This is a rare opportunity to apply your software engineering skills in a rapidly advancing field and gain exposure to the development cycle of next-generation photonic technologies.

Responsibilities

• Develop internal software applications and tools to support R&D data analytics workflows
• Build and enhance interactive dashboards for visualizing real-world experimental and production data
• Analyze large experimental datasets to extract insights and identify trends or anomalies
• Design, maintain, and optimize relational and non-relational databases
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand data needs and deliver software and analytics solutions

Requirements

• Current Ph.D., Master's, or Bachelor's student in Electrical Engineering, Physics, Computer Science or a related field
• Mastery of data structures and algorithms. Understanding of core software engineering and database concepts
• Familiarity with database systems and proficiency in SQL
• Proficiency in Python for data manipulation, automation, and analysis (e.g., using pandas, NumPy, scikit-learn)
• Experience building software applications or tools (e.g., web apps, internal tooling, backend services) is a plus
• Experience with data pipeline tools, schema migration frameworks, or backend infrastructure is a plus
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Self-motivated, collaborative, and eager to learn in a dynamic environment
• 3-month internship duration, on-site, based in Cambridge, MA
• Candidates must have authorization to work in the United States

Benefits

• Challenging and practical software development projects using Python and modern related technologies
• Hands-on experience with modern tools in software engineering, data engineering, analytics, and visualization
• Real-world impact in photonic product development and manufacturing
• Mentorship and collaboration with leading experts in photonics, data science, and software engineering
• Competitive market-based compensation (Pay range of $25 - $32 per hour)