Protective Design Engineer Internship - Summer

Company Description

At KPFF Consulting Engineers, we are more than just an engineering design firm. For 65 years, we have dedicated ourselves to innovative, sustainable engineering that shapes the built environment and tackles complex infrastructure challenges. Our team culture emphasizes balance, growth, and well‑being, supporting each member’s professional journey with flexibility, generous benefits, and a collaborative approach to work‑life integration. With over 1,500 professionals across 36 offices nationwide, KPFF’s decentralized structure allows each office the flexibility to pursue projects aligned with their regional strengths.

Learn more at  Our Protective Design team focuses on an area of structural engineering that most students do not encounter in a typical internship: designing buildings and critical infrastructure to better withstand extreme events and security‑related threats.

As a Protective Design Engineering Intern, you will work alongside engineers in San Francisco on projects focused on the safety, resilience, and security of the built environment. You may contribute to projects involving blast analysis, progressive collapse evaluation, anti-ram design, structural hardening, and other specialized protective design strategies for federal, commercial, and infrastructure clients. This is an opportunity to apply what you are learning in school to engineering challenges that go beyond conventional building design.

You will see how structural behavior, dynamic loading, materials, analysis, and constructability come together when the performance requirements are especially demanding.

• Hands‑on engineering:
  Support structural modeling, analysis, calculations, and design for active protective design projects.
• Specialized experience:
  Learn how engineers evaluate structures for blast loads, progressive collapse, and other extreme conditions.
• Mentorship:
  Work alongside engineers who specialize in both structural and protective design.
• Project exposure:
  Gain insight into project coordination, construction administration, and site visits when opportunities allow.
• Collaboration:
  
  Work with multidisciplinary teams, clients, and project partners to solve complex engineering challenges.
• Career development:
  Build technical skills and explore a specialized career path within structural engineering.

• A strong passion for pursuing a career in structural or protective design engineering, ideally with interest in resilience, safety, and security of structures.
• Currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s program in Civil or Structural Engineering (junior level or higher, with at least three years of completed coursework) or a Master’s program in structural engineering.
• Coursework or exposure to structural dynamics, steel design and/or concrete design is preferred.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills.
• Strong time management and organizational abilities.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Word; experience with structural analysis software (ETABS, SAP
  2000, RISA, or LS‑DYNA) is a plus.

• Ability to work on a computer for extended periods of time.
• Comfort with conducting site visits and navigating construction sites, including climbing ladders and walking on uneven terrain.
• Ability to lift up to 15 pounds of equipment or materials.

KPFF is committed to recognizing the valuable contributions of our interns by offering compensation that reflects market standards and aligns with the local cost of living. This role offers a competitive hourly rate ranging from $34.00 to $37.00, based on experience and qualifications.

In addition to hourly pay, interns at KPFF benefit from:

• Paid overtime opportunities when project needs require…