Hardware Product Sprint (HPS)

The Hardware Product Sprint (HPS) program is committed to increasing representation in tech by building a network of support for students who identify with historically excluded groups. HPS introduces students to tech industry best practices, diverse career paths to and within the tech industry, and an opportunity to apply concepts learned in school to hand-ons and collaborative projects. HPS introduces students to the product development process for consumer electronics by challenging students to design and build their own product.

During this 12 week program students will build a product via either the Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering path. Depending on students’ experience, background, and interests, they can select one of two tracks that HPS offers:

Mechanical Engineering: The course will introduce mechanical design concepts to create a high volume manufacturable product. This includes initial concept development, prototyping and device assembly.

Electrical Engineering: The course will cover microcontrollers, PCB design, assembly, and testing. The end result will be a working prototype of a consumer product.

Both tracks include:

• Courses that identify some of the fundamentals of engineering that appear often in the consumer electronics space.
• Materials, resources, and tools to design, ideate, and build a product.
• A Google Hardware Engineer mentor who will serve as your product advisor over the course of the 12 weeks.
• Opportunities to interact with Google Hardware engineers from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines.
• A group of 1-3 peers who you’ll collaborate with and bounce ideas off of in order to build out your individual products.
• Exposure and insight into Google’s internship programs and other career opportunities in the tech industry.

The program is open to students who meet all the minimum qualifications and we strongly encourage students that identify with groups historically excluded from the technology industry, including Women, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, American Indian, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, students with disabilities, and veterans to apply. Previous participants of HPS are not eligible to reapply.

Who can apply?

To be eligible to apply, applicants must:

• Be currently enrolled in or accepted as a full-time undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelors or an Associate degree at a college or university in North America
• Intend to enroll in or be accepted as as a full-time student in a Bachelors program at an accredited university in the United States for the 2022-2023 academic year
• Intend to graduate between December 2023 and 2025
• Be studying aeronautical engineering, computer engineering/computer systems engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, mechatronics engineering, product design or a closely related technical field
• Be over 18 years of age when the program starts in May 2022
• Be located in the United States or Puerto Rico for the entirety of the virtual program (our vendors can only ship HPS project parts to addresses within the United States)
• Be able to commit 8 hours per week during the 12 weeks of the program (May - August, 2022)
• Be fluent in English
• Demonstrate passion for improving representation of underrepresented groups in hardware engineering and technology

Current and Summer 2022 Google interns are not eligible to apply.

You will be asked to complete an online application which includes:

• General background information (e.g. contact information and details about your current and intended college or university)
• Resume/CV
• Academic transcripts from your current institution (unofficial transcripts are accepted)
• Response to one short answer essay questions

Essay Question:

The Hardware Product Sprint program is an opportunity to grow your skills and gain exposure to industry professionals and real world best practices. This program will require you to work alongside a team and be responsible for the build out of your own product in 12 weeks and you will likely encounter some bumps along the way.

In 300 or less words, tell us about a time that you were faced with a challenge and how you overcame it. Explain the challenge you encountered, the solutions you considered, what actions you took and the outcome of your efforts. Keep in mind that challenges can be big or small. We are looking for a demonstration of your problem solving skills in the situation (please note that the formal use of English grammar, punctuation, and/or spelling is not the top priority here, our reviewers will mostly be interested in the content of your answer.)

Important: Before starting the application, please have the following ready for upload:

• PDF copy of your resume/CV
• PDF copy of your current transcript (unofficial transcripts are accepted)
• PDF copy of your short answer response

Please ensure that you enter your information accurately and we recommend that you submit your application in one sitting. Please review the FAQs for HPS. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to hps-na@google.com.

Application deadline: applications for 2022 are currently closed.