Power Electronics Intern

\[Job Title\]

Location: [City/Remote/Hybrid] Team: [Department/Product Area]

The Impact You’ll Make/:

Join our team as a Power Electronics Engineering Intern and help shape the firmware and control systems behind next-generation power converters. In this role, you will develop embedded firmware for TI C2000 DSPs, build Software- and Hardware-in-the-Loop test environments, and design and validate control loops that drive real-world power electronics performance. This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated EE, Computer Engineering, or Mechatronics student to gain hands-on experience at the intersection of embedded systems and power conversion technology.

Key Responsibilities:

Firmware track

• • Develop and debug embedded firmware for TI C2000 DSPs driving power electronic converters
  • Build Software-in-the-Loop and Hardware-in-the-Loop systems
  • Build communication interfaces (CAN, SPI, I²C, UART, Modbus) between the controller and the wider system
  • Bring up new boards, write test/diagnostic routines, and debug on the bench

Control track

• • Model power converter topologies and design/tune control loops (current, voltage, power)
  • Translate control designs into fixed-point or floating-point implementations on TI DSPs
  • Create simulation models (SIL&HIL)
  • Validate dynamic performance against simulation and on hardware

The Skills You Bring:

• Pursuing a B.Sc., M.Sc., or Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field
• Familiarity with power electronics fundamentals (converter topologies, switching, magnetics)
• Programming in C (and ideally C2000 / TI DSP toolchains such as Code Composer Studio)
• Exposure to control theory and feedback systems
• Understanding of embedded communication protocols
• Comfort with lab instruments and a methodical debugging mindset

Nice to Have:

• Hands-on experience with TI C2000 / Piccolo / Delfino MCUs
• MATLAB/Simulink for modeling and control design
• Prior project or coursework involving motor drives, inverters, or DC-DC converters

About 1st Avenue Power:

At 1st Avenue Power, we are on a mission to deliver simple, fast-to-deploy, customer-centric and intelligent power systems leveraging the abundance of solar to provide inexpensive and reliable clean energy to global customers from data centers to energy starved communities around the world. We envision a future where every community, business, and nation thrives on the limitless potential of clean energy, united in a shared commitment to a sustainable and equitable world.

You will be working with Dr. Tom Buttgenbach, one of the most successful clean energy technology innovators and entrepreneurs who has been a driving force in making solar-based energy solutions the cheapest and most reliable energy option. Tom founded and led Avantus (formerly known as “8minute Solar Energy“), to become one of the largest and most profitable solar and energy storage companies in the United States and the largest in California, including delivering over 17% of Los Angeles’ power.

When Tom sold his interest in Avantus’ development business to KKR in mid-2024, it had delivered over $1 billion in profit and secured over $10 Billion in power purchase agreements and project financings with a pipeline of over 30 GW of solar and 90 GWh of energy storage, capable of powering the homes of more than 20 million Americans day and night.

Tom’s family office investment firm, 1st Avenue Capital, is building teams for the next generation of advanced solar power system architecture and AI to aggressively drive down the cost of and equitable access to clean and reliable energy.[1] 1st Avenue’s advanced large scale power systems are addressing the increasing inadequacy of the grid to meet the massively growing power demands of the digital economy, while its intelligent distributed solar utilities are leapfrogging the grid to provide equitable access to inexpensive, clean and reliable power to underserved communities around the world.

1AI Energy, the employing entity for 1st Avenue Power, and 1st Avenue Power are committed to a policy of Equal Employment Opportunity and will not discriminate against an applicant or employee based on race (inclusive of traits associated with race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, religion, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding), age, veteran or military status, marital status, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, reproductive decision-making, or any other legally recognized protected class under federal, state, or local law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements.. Applicants with disabilities may be entitled to reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), and local laws. A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done which will ensure an equal employment opportunity without imposing undue hardship on 1AI Energy or 1st Avenue Power. Please inform the company's personnel representative if you need assistance completing an application or to otherwise participate in the application process.

Join our team and make a real difference in the world.

[1: Additionally, 1st Avenue is in the business of acquiring projects where there has been a final notice-to-proceed or financial close.]

California Pay Range

$1$2 USD