FPGA Design Engineer Intern

Job Title: FPGA Design Engineering Intern

Department: Engineering

Reports to: Manager of Hardware Engineering

Office: Danbury, CT

Work Location: Hybrid

Owl Cyber Defense is a leader and trusted partner in cyber security. We deliver solutions that protect and connect the world’s most critical networks. Owl’s product lines of cross domain, data diode, and portable media solutions provide the strongest available security checkpoints for threat prevention and secure data availability. Our in-depth expertise in security engineering at the operating system level enables us to help government and commercial customers meet ever-evolving cyber security threats.

As an FPGA Design Engineering Intern at Owl Cyber Defense, you will gain hands‑on experience working with engineers who design and implement FPGA-based hardware for high‑assurance cybersecurity products. You will support the development, simulation, and testing of VHDL/System Verilog designs that process and protect high-speed Ethernet data.

This role offers an opportunity to learn about the design lifecycle for secure embedded systems, from hardware design and simulation through testing and validation, all within a collaborative engineering team that develops Owl’s advanced cross domain and data diode solutions.

• Assist in the design, simulation, and verification of FPGA modules using VHDL or System Verilog.
• Support development of packet-handling applications for high-speed Ethernet systems.
• Contribute to testbench development and simulation using tools such as Model Sim or Cadence Xcelium.
• Collaborate with senior FPGA engineers to analyze and debug system-level designs.
• Help implement communication protocols from design specifications and requirements.
• Participate in hardware bring‑up and testing on custom FPGA platforms.
• Learn to use FPGA tool chains such as Vivado or Quartus for synthesis and implementation.
• Document findings, procedures, and test results to support engineering deliverables.

• Pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or related discipline with a focus on FPGAs or Embedded Logic.
• Coursework or project experience in FPGA design, digital systems, or embedded hardware development.
• Familiarity with VHDL or System Verilog.
• Exposure to HDL simulation tools (Model Sim, Cadence Xcelium, etc.).
• Understanding of digital design fundamentals, state machines, and timing analysis.
• Basic knowledge of networking concepts (Ethernet, TCP/IP, UDP) is a plus.
• Experience with Linux environments preferred.

• Strong problem‑solving and analytical thinking.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• Eagerness to learn from mentors and collaborate in a technical environment.
• Adaptable and organized in managing multiple tasks.

• U.S. Citizenship required; candidates must be able to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance.

Owl Cyber Defense Solutions, LLC is a fast-growing cybersecurity solutions company, holding a firm leadership position in network security and secure information transfer. It is a privately‑owned U.S. company with offices in Columbia, MD, Danbury, CT and Morrisville, NC. For more information, see

Equal Opportunity / Affiant Employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment.