Digital Design Engineering Intern

Digital Design Intern About the role Astera Labs is seeking a Digital Design Intern to contribute to the development of ASIC and digital hardware blocks. You will gain hands-on experience with RTL implementation, design-quality checks, simulation and elaboration, clock-domain crossing analysis, synthesis, and the collaboration required to move a design from specification toward verification and physical-design handoff. You will work on a scoped digital-design project with guidance from experienced engineers. Your work will combine learning the design methodology with making practical contributions to readable, reusable, and verifiable RTL. What you will do • Learn the project RTL structure, coding methodology, build flow, design tools, and review process. • Implement, modify, and review synthesizable Verilog or SystemVerilog RTL for digital logic blocks and interfaces. • Translate block requirements into clear module structure, state machines, datapaths, control logic, registers, and interfaces. • Generate or update RTL, filelists, register-related collateral, and configuration files using the project flow. • Create or improve directed simulations, simple testbenches, assertions, and checks to exercise block functionality and corner cases. • Run compile and elaboration, lint, clock-domain crossing, and synthesis flows; inspect reports and summarize issues. • Analyze CDC crossings involving synchronizers, handshakes, asynchronous FIFOs, resets, clocks, and quasi-static signals. • Debug RTL, tool warnings, constraint issues, and simulation mismatches with support from design and verification mentors. • Apply coding guidelines, naming conventions, hierarchy rules, reset practices, and reusable design-IP conventions during implementation and review. • Collaborate with design verification, physical design, DFT, firmware, and systems engineers on interfaces, assumptions, debug visibility, and handoff readiness. • Document design decisions, test results, open issues, and handoff information; present the completed project and lessons learned. What you bring • Enrollment in a bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. program in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, or a related field. • Coursework, research, or project experience in digital logic, computer architecture, embedded systems, ASIC design, FPGA design, or hardware description languages. • Programming or hardware-description-language experience with Verilog, SystemVerilog, VHDL, C, C++, Python, or a comparable language. • Familiarity with digital design concepts such as flip-flops, finite-state machines, clocks, resets, datapaths, registers, timing, and interfaces. • Familiarity with Linux development environments, Git, command-line tools, debugging, and technical documentation. • Ability to reason carefully about requirements, waveforms, tool reports, and corner cases. • Strong ownership, curiosity, practical judgment, and willingness to collaborate across engineering functions. Preferred qualifications • Experience writing synthesizable RTL, simulation testbenches, SystemVerilog assertions, or reusable design IP. • Exposure to lint, CDC, synthesis, formal verification, timing, or other design-quality and signoff checks. • Familiarity with tools such as VCS, SpyGlass, Design Compiler, PrimeTime, or comparable EDA tools. • Understanding of clock-domain crossing patterns, including synchronizers, handshakes, asynchronous FIFOs, gray-coded pointers, and CDC constraints. • Experience with CSR or register-map generation, parameterized modules, configuration variants, or debug and observability features. • Experience reading waveforms and reports, triaging failures, and communicating a clear technical recommendation. 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 an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. We encourage anyone with relevant experience to apply.