Internship | Tackle Climate Change with our Technical Green ICT

About this position

ICT use has increased tremendously in the past decades. One aspect that has only recently started to receive more attention is its impact on our climate. Current estimations are that the impact of ICT is already larger than the impact of the aviation sector! At TNO, we are actively working on limiting the CO2e emissions of our digital infrastructure and ICT usage and thereby enhancing its sustainability.

What will be your role?

At TNO, we are on a mission to make a positive impact on the environment by reducing the climate impact of ICT usage. As TNO, we focus on making the impact more transparent by measuring all electricity use of ICT services, and by optimizing the hardware use in the end-to-end service delivery chain. We are looking for motivated technical students who share our mission of a more sustainable future for the ICT sector.

Do you want to be working on reducing the climate effects of AI services such as ChatGPT? Do you believe our screen addictions are not helpful for a sustainable ICT future? Do you want to contribute to more efficient cloud platforms or future 5G and 6G mobile networks? Or do you think the government should take more action? If you feel motivated to achieve more sustainability in ICT and make a meaningful impact during your internship, please contact us!

We are looking for technical students that want to bring their technical analytical skills, software development power and computing platform and general ICT infrastructure knowledge, to help us achieve:

• The measurement of energy use of ICT services (scope 2 emissions). ICT services range from Netflix and TikTok to online banking, Google search, social networking, ChatGPT and many business applications. Various hardware components are used while using these services, including servers in a cloud environment, routers in the network, computers, and smartphones. Our objective is to measure and model the energy consumption of these hardware components and create algorithms for allocating the energy usage among different services.
• Increase efficiency of ICT itself. Current ICT design did not have sustainability as a design criterium. This is slowly changing for the better. Obviously, newer hardware is often more efficient, but it should not stop here. Services can be optimized, AI algorithms can be improved, cloud usage can be orchestrated, and software can be developed more sustainable. We aim to refactor power hungry frameworks, protocols and systems architectures to prove and realize that for about the same functionality substantial energy/GHG savings can be realized.

We offer both thesis internships and regular internships. The expected duration of a thesis internship project is 6-9 months including the possibility of writing your thesis and/or taking part in writing a scientific paper. Regular internships may range anywhere between 3 to 9 months.

Furthermore:

• Your work is part of a bigger effort, you will be working within a team of about 20 people working on various aspects of the sustainability of ICT use.
• Depending on the assignment, the main TNO location will differ. The locations involved are The Hague and Groningen. You will be expected to work on location, with the option of working part of your week from home.
• Depending on your results, publishing the results in a scientific paper may be possible, targeting a high-impact academic or industrial conference.

What we expect from you

Top students are invited to apply. We are looking for students a solid technical background, which can range from Computer Science to Electrotechnical Engineering to Software Engineering and everything in between, as long as software development and the ICT domain is a major part of your study. A strong motivation to help reduce climate impact is expected! We expect a pro-active attitude, enthusiasm, curiosity, and an eagerness to learn and explore.

What you'll get in return

You want an internship opportunity on the precursor of your career; an internship gives you an opportunity to take a good look at your prospective future employer. TNO goes a step further. It’s not just looking that interests us; you and your knowledge are essential to our innovation. That’s why we attach a great deal of value to your personal and professional development. You will, of course, be properly supervised during your work placement and be given the scope for you to get the best out of yourself. Furthermore, we provide:

• A highly professional, innovative internship environment, within a team of top experts.
• A suitable internship allowance (615 euro for wo-, hbo- and mbo-students, for a full-time internship).
• Possibility of eight hours of free leave per internship month (for a full-time internship).
• A free membership of Jong TNO, where you can meet other TNO professionals and join several activities, such as sports activities, (work-related) courses or the yearly ski-trip.
• Use of a laptop.
• An allowance for travel expenses in case you don’t receive an OV-card.

TNO as an employer

At TNO, we innovate for a healthier, safer and more sustainable life. And for a strong economy. Since 1932, we have been making knowledge and technology available for the common good. We find each other in wonder and ingenuity. We are driven to push boundaries. There is all the space and support for your talent and ambition. You work with people who will challenge you: who inspire you and want to learn from you. Our state-of-the-art facilities are there to realize your vision. What you do at TNO matters: impact makes the difference. Because with every innovation you contribute to tomorrow’s world.

At TNO we encourage an inclusive work environment, where you can be yourself. Whatever your story and whatever unique qualities you bring to the table. It is by combining our unique strengths and perspectives that we are able to develop innovations that make a real difference in society.