Job Requisition ID #26WD96200
As part of Autodesk's team, this internship role may have the opportunity to contribute to project(s) supporting Autodesk's partnership as the Official Design and Make Platform of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA.
Position Overview Autodesk is offering a graduate-level research internship for students interested in the intersection of sustainability, building design, and artificial intelligence. This position focuses on critically evaluating and advising the development of an AI-driven workflow that supports early-stage building design decisions related to material selection and embodied carbon performance. The primary application of this workflow is to support Autodesk's work with the LA28 Games.
The intern will contribute expert academic insight to ensure that AI agents:
- Formulate building design problems appropriately
- Leverage environmental datasets correctly
- Produce outputs that are accurate, relevant, and aligned with real-world design practice
This role is designed for students seeking applied research experience, exposure to industry-scale AI workflows, and opportunities to translate LCA academic methods into practical tools.
Academic Value & Outcomes
- Apply academic research methods to an industry AI development context
- Gain experience evaluating, shaping and validating AI-driven sustainability tools
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams spanning sustainability, software, and AI research
- Opportunity to contribute to internal white papers, methodologies, or future publications
- Exposure to research that supports Autodesk role as the Official Design and Make Platform of the LA28 Games
This role is well suited for graduate students who are interested in bridging research and practice, have strong opinions about data quality, assumptions, and methodological rigor, and want to influence how AI systems reason about sustainability in the built environment.
Responsibilities Phase 1: Problem Framing & Data Foundations
- Review AI workflow documentation, preliminary outputs, and customer feedback
- Evaluate how AI agents define building design problems and scope sustainability-related inquiries
- Assess the use of environmental datasets (e.g., EPDs, carbon databases) for accuracy, relevance, and methodological alignment
- Provide recommendations for improved data sources, assumptions, or research framing
Phase 2: Workflow Development & Assessment Quality
- Advise on workflow refinements to improve AI reasoning, transparency, and output reliability
- Identify gaps between academic best practices and implemented workflows
- Review embodied carbon assessment results and underlying assumptions
- Recommend methodological improvements and more targeted data and schema strategies
Phase 3: Validation & Comparative Analysis
- Compare AI-generated results with the intern's academic or in-house research methods
- Validate outcomes and document discrepancies and alignments
- Contribute to recommendations that strengthen the scientific credibility and usability of the workflow
Minimum Qualifications - Enrollment in a Master's or PhD program
- Coursework or research experience in:
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
- Embodied carbon and building materials
- Sustainable building design or construction systems
- Strong analytical and critical thinking skills
- Ability to communicate complex findings clearly in written and verbal formats
- Basic computer science skills
Preferred Qualifications - Familiarity with environmental datasets, standards, or EPD development
- Exposure to computational design, AI-assisted workflows, or decision-support systems
- Interest in applied research and technology translation
About the US Internship Program The 2026 U.S. program runs for 12 weeks (May 18 - August 7 or June 15 - September 4). All internships are paid. As an intern, you will contribute to meaningful projects, be mentored by industry leaders, and participate in tech talks and other activities designed to support your personal and professional development. Our internships align with Autodesk's Flexible Workplace approach, which is designed to meet the needs of our business while providing flexibility in support of office, remote, and hybrid work preferences.
Learn MoreAbout AutodeskWelcome to Autodesk! Amazing things are created every day with our software - from the greenest buildings and cleanest cars to the smartest factories and biggest hit movies. We help innovators turn their ideas into reality, transforming not only how things are made, but what can be made.
We take great pride in our culture here at Autodesk - it's at the core of everything we do. Our culture guides the way we work and treat each other, informs how we connect with customers and partners, and defines how we show up in the world.
When you're an Autodesker, you can do meaningful work that helps build a better world designed and made for all. Ready to shape the world and your future? Join us!
Salary TransparencySalary is one part of Autodesk's competitive compensation package. Offers are based on the candidate's experience, educational level, and geographic location, and can exceed this range.
For U.S.-based roles, we expect a starting annualized intern base salary to be between:
- $47,840 and $95,680 (undergraduate students)
- $72,800 and $118,500 (Masters/MBA students)
- $118,560 and $162,240 (PhD students)
Equal Employment Opportunity At Autodesk, we're building a diverse workplace and an inclusive culture to give more people the chance to imagine, design, and make a better world. Autodesk is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected characteristic. We also consider for employment all qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with applicable law.
Diversity & BelongingWe take pride in cultivating a culture of belonging where everyone can thrive. Learn more here:
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