Your launchpad to a bright future in STEM. Are you ready to explore the cutting-edge world of STEM, gain hands-on experience, and earn while you learn? The STEMcx Summer Internship Program is an immersive, eight-week adventure designed to empower underrepresented minorities (URMs) in Baltimore and surrounding counties. Explore five distinct STEM disciplines with real-world projects, mentorship, and exciting challenges that will ignite your curiosity and creativity. Earn $15.00 per hour for 160 hours of engagement, adding up to a $2,400 stipend for your hard work this summer. PROGRAM DETAILS: June 15-August 9. Time Commitment: 160 hours of engagement over eight weeks. Cohort Size: Eight interns will be selected for each of the five disciplines. Apply now and join the STEMcx movement!

This internship is specifically intended for underrepresented minorities (URMs) in STEM. Underrepresented in STEM refers to racial and ethnic groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields compared to their representation in the general population, including Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian, and Alaska Native individuals. Applicants must be rising sophomores, juniors or seniors, and reside in Baltimore City or the surrounding counties. We will consider graduating seniors depending on their schedule availability during the final week of the program. PLEASE NOTE TO APPLY FOR THE HEALTHCARE DISCIPLINE YOU MUST BE AT LEAST 16 YEARS OLD. Only U.S. citizens are eligible to apply. Applicants may participate in the STEMcx Paid Internship Summer Program only ONCE.

Applications open January 9th and close February 27th. Interviews will be held from March 2nd to March 13th. Selected interns will be notified on March 16th.

This isn’t a typical internship — it’s an adventure in real-world learning. Each week, you’ll step out of the classroom and into the field, visiting sites across Maryland (and beyond) that bring STEM to life. Most weeks include academic work, shadowing professionals, or hands-on field visits that immerse you directly in the work of your chosen discipline. For Baltimore-based activities, you’ll handle your own transportation. For longer trips, transportation will be provided. While the final schedule is still being refined, expect to be at different sites throughout the summer, with times and locations shaped by each experience. The full calendar will be released by the end of February. This internship is built to give you real-world exposure, hands-on learning, and direct connections with professionals who are shaping the future of STEM.

Field trips aren’t just a perk of the STEMcx Internship — they’re essential to your success. Participation is required to complete the program and earn the $2,400 stipend. Each trip is a chance to explore new environments, meet STEM professionals, experience college life, and deepen your understanding of your internship focus. The centerpiece of the summer is a week-long STEM experience in North Carolina. From July 12–17, you’ll stay at North Carolina State University, experience campus life at a top STEM institution, and visit other universities that align with your goals. A signed field trip permission form is mandatory for the program. Travel, lodging, and all program costs for the week-long trip are fully covered.

This internship is a major opportunity — and it demands your full commitment. Attendance is mandatory. Interns must be available for the entire eight-week program, including all meetings, discussions, and field trips, both virtual and in person. This includes the closing ceremony on August 9th, where your work will be celebrated. Reliable transportation is essential. Activities take place across the city, and you are expected to arrive on time and ready to participate. To earn the stipend, you must complete the program in full. We understand that emergencies can happen, but any absence must be communicated to program leaders in advance and will be reviewed individually. Professionalism is required. Conduct and attire must reflect the seriousness of the work you’re doing. Behavioral issues — including lack of respect, repeated lateness, or disruptions — will result in immediate removal from the program. A tentative schedule will be shared by February 15th, with a final calendar to follow. Times and locations will vary, so stay flexible, stay alert to communication, and be prepared for an intensive, hands-on summer that will push you, grow you, and open doors.

By submitting this application, you grant STEMcx and its affiliates permission to use your photo for promotional purposes related to any STEMcx program, both in print and online.

Please apply to no more than two distinct STEM disciplines. For each application, you must submit a separate form and indicate your preference in the personal statement. Descriptions of each STEM discipline are provided below.

Step into one of the fastest-growing and most high-stakes fields today. This cybersecurity internship drops you directly into the world of digital defense, where real attacks happen every day and skilled professionals race to stop them. You’ll be guided by Isaiah Corley, a veteran Cybersecurity Architect at Palo Alto Networks who brings real industry insights to every session. You will not simply learn concepts you’ll use them. You’ll understand how hackers break into systems, trace how data moves across networks, test how firewalls make decisions, and see how cloud-based security solutions protect millions of users. You’ll also work through real cybersecurity case studies, breaking down what happened, why it happened, and what solutions you would design to prevent it from occurring. Your skills will be pushed further by attending a professional Cyber Range, where you’ll face live, controlled cyberattacks and practice stopping them in real time. It’s fast, challenging, and one of the closest experiences to actual cybersecurity work. Your learning expands beyond the classroom with visits to the NSA Cryptologic Museum and the International Spy Museum, connecting modern cyber threats through the historical context of cryptography and cyber intelligence. During the program, you will take the official Palo Alto Networks Cybersecurity Apprentice Certification exam giving you the chance to earn a respected credential before finishing high school. You’ll end with a capstone project analyzing a real cyber incident and building a security plan for a fictional organization. PRE-PROGRAM REQUIREMENT: Accepted students must spend two hours a week for one month before the internship reviewing introductory materials so they’re ready to hit the ground running!

Step into the world of medicine through an internship designed to show you what healthcare really looks like. You’ll visit top institutions—including Howard University’s Medical and Dental Schools and the University of Maryland Medical School—to see how doctors are trained and what it takes to succeed in the field. Throughout the program, you’ll shadow physicians across multiple specialties, watching patient care and clinical decision-making unfold in real time. Your experience expands with specialized department visits: Perioperative and Procedural Services at the University of Maryland Medical Center, the Shock Trauma Unit, surgical observations at Sinai Hospital, the Kaiser Permanente Simulation Lab, and the National Institutes of Health Medical Research Lab. You’ll also spend two immersive days at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, observing advanced pediatric care at one of the nation’s leading children’s hospitals. Along the way, you’ll explore the different paths to becoming a healthcare professional and earn a Red Cross certification that strengthens your emergency response skills. You’ll also investigate disparities in healthcare access and outcomes, learning how structural inequities shape patient experiences. Each intern will collaborate with a mentor from the American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant Program or the Diversity in Cancer Research Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, gaining personal guidance on research and career development. The program concludes with a professional research poster presentation where you’ll showcase your findings, analytical skills, and understanding of real-world healthcare challenges. IMPORTANT: Accepted interns will travel to Philadelphia in April for required fingerprinting for the summer hospital shadowing experience. Additional pre-internship requirements will include updated vaccines and medical screenings that are mandatory for participation at clinical sites.

Have you ever wondered why parts of Baltimore are seeing brown water today or what really happened to the water in Flint, Michigan? This internship takes you inside those questions and puts you on the front lines of the fight for clean, safe water. You’ll start with behind-the-scenes field trips to the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Water Filtration Plants, where you’ll watch treatment processes in action. At Morgan State University’s PEARL Lab, you’ll see aquatic research that shapes environmental policy. You’ll meet Maryland Secretary of the Environment Serena Coleman McIlwain for an insider’s look at how environmental decisions get made, and you’ll join a virtual session with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the whistleblower who exposed the Flint water crisis. Her story will show you how science, courage, and advocacy collide in moments that change history. Throughout the internship, you’ll collaborate with leading organizations to tackle real problems. You might analyze contamination at Coppin State University’s Laboratory for Environmental Contaminants, investigate water quality in local streams with Blue Water Baltimore, or work alongside the Maryland Department of the Environment on active water-quality challenges. Depending on your project, you’ll handle tasks like data collection, site assessment, sampling, analysis, and reporting — building real research skills that matter. The program ends with a professional academic poster presentation, where you’ll share your findings and demonstrate how your work contributes to cleaner, safer water for our communities. Guiding your experience is Dr. Royce Francis, Associate Professor of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering at George Washington University. With dual doctorates in Engineering and Public Policy and Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, Dr. Francis brings the expertise and the mission-driven mindset that will push you to think critically, work boldly, and help solve one of the most urgent challenges of our time.

Step into the world of architecture and urban design through an internship built to spark your creativity and deepen your understanding of how cities take shape. You’ll begin by learning core architectural concepts through hands-on instruction that strengthens your design thinking, spatial awareness, and visual communication skills. Weekly sketching sessions will sharpen your artistic technique and help you translate ideas into compelling design concepts. Each week, you’ll go behind the scenes at local architectural firms meeting architects and planners who will show you the many career paths within the field. You’ll also work with fellow interns on an in-class building project that challenges you to collaborate, problem-solve, and bring a shared vision to life. A day-long design workshop will expose you to advanced tools and fabrication methods as you create your own small-scale build. You’ll also volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, contributing to real-world projects that show how design directly shapes communities. You will have the opportunity to have your designs professionally critiqued by a local development firm. The program concludes with a professional academic poster presentation where you’ll showcase your design proposals, research, and community impact. Guiding your experience is Darius White, Community Design and Development Lead at the Maryland Department of Planning and an adjunct architectural professor at the University of the District of Columbia. A Morgan State University graduate with a Master’s in City and Regional Planning, Mr. White brings expertise in inclusive design and a commitment to building cities that serve everyone.

Take your coding skills to the next level in this advanced internship focused on Python, autonomous flight systems, and artificial intelligence. This program moves beyond a hardware-first approach to drones and instead teaches you how drones work, how they are controlled through software, and how intelligence can be layered on top of those systems. You’ll begin by learning the fundamentals of drone flight: how drones communicate, how flight controllers work, and how software issues commands for takeoff, navigation, and landing. Using systems and software engineering principles, you’ll then design and develop a Python-based application that can control a drone autonomously. You’ll follow a real engineering workflow—requirements analysis, system design, development, testing, and iteration—using agile development practices. Once the core flight control system is in place, you’ll extend your work into artificial intelligence. You’ll integrate computer vision and human pose detection to trigger and influence drone behavior, such as launching or responding to visual cues. You’ll explore how visual inputs and sensor data can be translated into intelligent flight decisions. In the final phase of the internship, you’ll design and build your own AI chatbot to assist pilots in developing flight mission plans. Using natural language processing, the chatbot will translate human language into structured mission instructions, making drone control more intuitive and accessible. By the end of the program, you’ll understand how autonomous drones are designed, how AI enhances navigation and decision-making, and how humans can interact with intelligent robotic systems through software. Your technical lead is Tyrone Adams, retired-CEO of Anysolv Technologies Inc. who brings over 39 years of expertise in software and systems engineering, including designing and building many large and complex systems still operating today. His deep background in mission logic, system automation, and intelligent control makes him the perfect guide as you step into the world of AI-powered systems. This internship is ideal for students who want to blend Python mastery, computer vision, machine learning, and drone automation into one powerful, future-facing experience.