From Astera Labs’s careers page.
Electrical Validation Engineer Intern
Astera Labs · San Jose, CA · Internship · On-site
About Astera Labs
Astera Labs builds connectivity solutions that help power modern AI infrastructure. Our Electrical Validation teams measure, debug, and validate the electrical behavior of complex hardware platforms so products can move confidently through bring-up, validation, and release.
The opportunity
Join the Electrical Validation team and gain hands-on experience validating high-performance hardware. You’ll learn the team’s products, lab environment, measurement methods, firmware and update flows, and validation processes while contributing to a scoped project with a visible technical outcome.
This internship is designed for someone who enjoys working close to the hardware: setting up an experiment, selecting the right instrument, collecting trustworthy data, analyzing the result, investigating unexpected behavior, and documenting what the team should do next. You’ll collaborate with Electrical Validation, firmware, system validation, ATE, PApps, program-management, and other engineering teams.
What you’ll do
- Learn the Electrical Validation environment, assigned product area, lab equipment, scripts, specifications, and project success criteria.
- Run repeatable electrical measurements and validation workflows for hardware platforms, boards, links, interfaces, or subsystems.
- Set up and use lab equipment such as oscilloscopes, BERTs, VNAs, power supplies, electronic loads, temperature chambers, probes, and related fixtures under engineering guidance.
- Collect, organize, and analyze voltage, current, timing, signal-quality, link, power, temperature, or other electrical data as appropriate for the project.
- Compare results with specifications, expected behavior, previous runs, and validation criteria; identify trends, anomalies, margins, and failure conditions.
- Support hardware bring-up and debug by checking connections, configurations, firmware or update flows, test scripts, instrument settings, and environmental conditions.
- Develop or improve Python, shell, or other automation scripts for measurements, data collection, report generation, or repeatability.
- Create clear data packages, validation reports, plots, checklists, Confluence pages, and handoff documentation that others can trust and reuse.
- Investigate defined technical issues, form evidence-based hypotheses, run focused experiments, and communicate recommended next steps.
- Collaborate with firmware, system validation, ATE, PApps, design, and other cross-functional teams to unblock shared execution and close assigned tasks.
- Keep project trackers, action items, and technical documentation current while communicating progress, blockers, and risks.
- Own a scoped validation workflow or product slice with increasing independence and present your project, results, and key learnings at the end of the internship.
What you bring
- Coursework, projects, research, or hands-on experience in electrical engineering, computer engineering, physics, or a related field.
- Foundational understanding of circuits, electronics, digital systems, signal integrity, power, measurements, or hardware interfaces.
- Interest in learning how to use laboratory instruments and how to turn measurements into reliable engineering conclusions.
- Programming or scripting experience in Python, C/C++, MATLAB, shell, or another language used for automation and data analysis.
- Comfort learning in a Linux or technical lab environment and working with specifications, logs, plots, test procedures, and source control.
- A methodical approach to troubleshooting: verify the setup, isolate variables, collect evidence, compare against expectations, and document what changed.
- Clear written and verbal communication, with the ability to explain results and uncertainty to cross-functional partners.
- Ownership, curiosity, humility, and persistence in an environment where experiments may need to be repeated and refined.
Helpful experience
- Oscilloscopes, BERTs, VNAs, logic analyzers, spectrum analyzers, power supplies, electronic loads, or temperature chambers.
- High-speed serial links, PCIe, CXL, Ethernet, SERDES, clocking, jitter, eye diagrams, or signal-quality measurements.
- Board bring-up, firmware update flows, test fixtures, lab automation, or hardware debugging.
- Python data analysis, instrument control, report generation, or automated regression.
- Validation plans, test coverage, failure triage, data packages, or technical report writing.
- Jira, Confluence, Excel, Git, or other collaborative engineering workflows.
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.
Equal opportunity
Astera Labs is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees. We value diverse perspectives and consider qualified candidates without regard to legally protected characteristics.
