Rockwell Automation is a global technology leader focused on helping the world’s manufacturers be more productive, sustainable, and agile. With more than 28,000 employees who make the world better every day, we know we have something special. Behind our customers - amazing companies that help feed the world, provide life-saving medicine on a global scale, and focus on clean water and green mobility - our people are energized problem solvers that take pride in how the work we do changes the world for the better.
We welcome all makers, forward thinkers, and problem solvers who are looking for a place to do their best work. And if that’s you we would love to have you join us!
Job Description
The internship will focus on creating AI agents capable of analyzing industrial control requirements and Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) applications, automatically generating comprehensive test programs and validation plans, and executing these tests within simulation environments. This project emphasizes open, reproducible research through the use of publicly available PLC programs, open-source tools, synthetic simulation environments, and non-proprietary datasets.
An important objective is enabling the AI system to move beyond standard functional testing and systematically identify corner cases, fault conditions, safety risks, and unexpected operating scenarios that may not be specified by developers.
The project will leverage publicly available PLC programs, open-source control platforms, simulation environments, and synthetic datasets, allowing researchers to conduct the research using non-proprietary data and reproducible benchmarks.
You will report to the Director of Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence and work in Austin, TX.
Your Responsibilities:
Research Objectives
- Develop agentic AI workflows that automatically create test plans from PLC code, functional specifications, and system requirements.
- Create AI agents that create and refine test cases during PLC code development.
- Identify and test corner cases, rare events, and abnormal operating conditions.
- Produce fault-injection scenarios including sensor failures, actuator faults, communication disruptions, and unexpected process disturbances.
- Evaluate safety-related behaviors and verify compliance with operational constraints.
- Validate conformance between control goals and implemented PLC logic.
- Integrate simulation-driven testing and automated result analysis into the validation workflow.
- Explore formal verification and reasoning techniques to improve confidence in generated test plans.
- Emphasize open, reproducible research through the use of publicly available PLC programs, open-source tools, synthetic simulation environments, and non-proprietary datasets.
Research Areas
The internship provides opportunities to work at the intersection of:
- Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Agentic AI Systems
- Industrial Automation
- PLC Programming
- Formal Verification
- Simulation and Digital Twins
- Safety-Critical Systems
- Software Testing and Validation
The Essentials - You Will Have:
- Must be pursuing a bachelor's or advanced degree from an accredited college or university
The Preferred - You Might Also Have:
- Prior intern or co-op with Rockwell Automation
- Pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, artificial intelligence, engineering, or similar
- Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above
- Prior experience in delivering AI-enabled process improvements
- Expected graduation date is December 2027 or beyond
- Met on campus, national recruiting events, a Rockwell Automation-hosted event or a targeted recruiting campaign
- Previous experience in a manufacturing environment
- Experience in the following Python, machine learning or Generative AI, reinforcement learning, industrial automation, software testing, formal methods, robotics or simulation environments
What We Offer:
- Health Insurance including Medical, Dental and Vision
- 401k
- Paid Holidays
- Flexible Work Schedule where you will work with your manager to enjoy a work schedule that can be flexible with your personal life.
- To learn more about our benefits package, please visit at www.raquickfind.com.
At Rockwell Automation we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right person for this or other roles.
This position is part of a job family. Experience will be the determining factor for position level and compensation.
For this role, the Base Salary Compensation is from $22-40/hourly. Our benefits for the US can be found here. Actual pay will be based on factors such as skills, knowledge, education, and experience.
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We are an Equal Opportunity Employer including disability and veterans.
If you are an individual with a disability and you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please contact our services team at +1 (844) 404-7247.
Rockwell Automation’s hybrid policy aligns that employees are expected to work at a Rockwell location at least Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays unless they have a business obligation out of the office.