Internship Purpose

A major component of every LGO student’s required curriculum is the six-month internship research project hosted at an LGO partner company. The project applies unique research in operations, manufacturing, and other high-tech areas to problems in industry. At its core, the research project is designed to broaden the intern’s understanding of manufacturing and operations, address real-world industry challenges, and foster teamwork and leadership. The internship project research serves as the foundation of the student’s required dual-degree master’s-level thesis; contributing to public knowledge and creating business value for the host partner company.

Student Internship Liaisons

The Student Internship Committee members serve as liaisons between their classmates and company partners to represent student interests and provide partners with feedback on project options. They also support communication on the internship process between the LGO staff and students and contribute to reviews and improvements of the internship process in collaboration with LGO staff.

LGO Program Office Internship Contacts

The LGO internship process is managed by the academics, internships, and research (AIR) team of the LGO program office staff. For internship-related matters, they can collectively be reached at lgointernshipstaff@mit.edu.

The LGO office research advisors, Darby Hering and Scott Kennedy, are the key resources to discuss project content, connections to faculty research, and alignment with thesis academic expectations.  

Internship Timelines

There are two timelines for the internships, detailed below. All LGO students complete two to three semesters of coursework before beginning the internship project, followed by one to two semesters to complete coursework and their dual-degree master’s thesis.

To meet partner company needs effectively, LGO has defined a flexible internship period. This flexibility facilitates a strong relationship between students and advisors and encourages up-front planning. The internship is a full-time, seven-month experience, running from approximately Feb 1 – Aug 31 (for Feb-starts) and June 1 – Dec 20 (for June-starts) each year. Students commit to a minimum of 26 weeks, which includes time at company locations and travel to and from MIT for Midstream Review. All time off during the internship must be agreed upon between the student and supervisor.

LGO partners choose the internship timeline for their projects, with a guarantee of at least one internship per year overall. LGO expects a 30/70 split of projects in the February-start/June-start timelines to best align with academic offerings and maintain a sufficiently sized cohort for each cycle.

Only companies offering multiple internships can offer Feb-start internships. This provides students access to projects from all partner companies.  We recommend that companies offering multiple projects distribute them across both Feb-start and June-start pools.

 

Summer (June-August)

Fall (September – December)

IAP (January)

Spring (February – May)

Year 1

LGO core curriculum, student-partner engagements, MIT campus

MBA core, initial MBA and engineering electives, MIT campus

Domestic Plant Trek (DPT) ~ 3 Weeks, around U.S.

Feb-start

1st half of internship, partner host site

June-start

MBA/engineering electives, MIT campus

Year 2

Feb-start

2nd half of internship, partner host site

June-start

1st half of internship, partner host site

Feb-start

MBA/engineering electives, MIT campus

June-start

2nd half of internship, partner host site

Flexible/thesis writing, variable

Final MBA/engineering electives and thesis submission, MIT Campus
               

 

February-start Internships: LGO 2026

  • Feb-start Internship Proposals due: September 26, SUBMIT HERE
  • Interview team availability due: October 11
    • Survey to be filled out by each interviewing team for a project or group of projects
  • Number of student interview sign-ups and project feedback sent to project teams: October 15
    • Optional Project Updates: October 15-18
  • Interview schedule posted: October 22
  • Feb-start internship interviews: October 28 – November 8
  • Scoring due: within 48 hours of the last interview (EOB Nov 12) (SUBMIT HERE)
  • Matches announced (target date): November 20
  • Internship Host Orientation sessions scheduled December and January prior to internship start (45 minutes). Intended for supervisors, HR involved with on-boarding, and main point of contact for internships.
  • February – August 2025 internship on-site

June-start Internships: LGO 2026

  • June-start research proposals due: December 11, SUBMIT HERE
  • Interview team availability due: January 9 
    • Survey to be filled out by each interviewing team for a project or group of projects
  • Number of student interview sign-ups and project feedback sent to project teams: January 14
    • Optional Project Updates (and late project submissions): January 14-22
  • Interview schedule posted: January 29
  • June-start internship interviews: February 3 – 14
  • Scoring due: EOB Feb 19 (SUBMIT HERE)
  • Finalizing match and second round interviews, as needed: Feb 20-March 10
  • Matches announced (target date): March 12
  • Internship Host Orientation sessions scheduled late March and April prior to internship start (45minutes). Intended for supervisors, HR involved with on-boarding, and main point of contact for internships.
  • June – December 2025 internship on-site