Energy Informatics & Building Intelligence Intern
Energy Informatics & Building Intelligence Intern Position
Employer: Orivia Tech (Orivia Institute LLC), resident company at the bwtech@UMBC Energy and Cyber Incubator
Position type: Part-time, paid internship (not a full-time position)
Term: One semester, Spring 2027 (approximately 15 weeks)
Hours: 8 to 10 hours per week, about 120 hours total, scheduled around your classes
Location: Hybrid. On-site at bwtech@UMBC in Catonsville 1 to 2 days per week, remote the rest
Compensation: Paid through the Shattuck Family Internship Program stipend
Open to: UMBC undergraduates, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Environmental Sciences preferred. Program requirements apply (2.9 GPA or above)
Mentor: Michelle Ware-Allen, Founder and CEO, with the Orivia engineering co-founder
Openings: 1 to 2
About Orivia Tech
Orivia Tech is a civic technology and physical intelligence company based at bwtech@UMBC. We help property owners be ready before they need to be. We find where energy and risk are hiding in a building and give owners a way to act that doesn't come at a huge expense.
Our category line says it plainly: readiness and energy management for what a building can't show you. We connect the equipment a building already has, so owners can see it, act on it, and prove it held.
We are a founder-led, early-stage company with secured state funding, a live product in real buildings in Maryland, a public tool built on Maryland's Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) data, and an advisory board of senior energy and utility leaders. Our founder spent 15 years building biomedical infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries where the power goes out, and brought that mindset home to Maryland buildings.
This is a startup. You will sit next to the founders, see how decisions get made, and have your name on work that customers, state agencies, and utilities actually use.
What you will do
You will work at the intersection of energy data, buildings, and software. The work is real, scoped so you can finish it in a semester, and chosen so you leave with something to show.
Depending on your major and interests, you will take on two or three of these:
- Building data detective. Take interval energy data and equipment signals from real buildings and find the patterns: schedules that run when nobody is there, equipment that drifts, loads that spike before a problem shows up. Turn what you find into plain-language findings an owner can act on.
- Maryland BEPS research. Work with the public records behind Maryland's Building Energy Performance Standards. Help us identify which covered buildings are furthest from their targets, what it would take to close the gap, and who the decision makers are. This feeds a live public tool and our sales pipeline.
- Readiness playbooks. Help build the checklists and decision guides that tell a building operator what to do before a heat wave, a winter storm, or an outage. You will interview operators, test the playbooks against real events, and refine them.
- Data pipeline and dashboard work (for technical students). Help clean, structure, and visualize building data so it is useful to a non-technical owner. Python, SQL, and basic dashboarding are the tools. You do not need to know them all on day one.
- Customer and partner discovery. Join calls with building owners, housing providers, utilities, and state agencies. Take notes, track follow-ups, and help shape what we build next from what you hear.
What you will learn
- How energy actually moves through a building, and how to read the data that shows it
- How Maryland's building performance rules work and what they mean for owners
- How an early-stage company finds customers, prices a product, applies for funding, and makes decisions with incomplete information
- How to turn messy data into a finding someone will pay for
- How to present to executives, advisors, and public officials
- How a founder thinks about risk, readiness, and the worst day
You will have a weekly one-on-one with the founder, a standing invitation to advisor meetings, and access to the bwtech@UMBC incubator community and its programming.
Who thrives here
We hire for curiosity and follow-through, not for a specific major. Students from engineering, computer science, information systems, environmental science, geography, public policy, economics, business, and the social sciences have all found a fit in this kind of work.
You are a good match if you:
- Like figuring out why something happened, not just that it happened
- Can take a loosely defined problem and bring back a clear answer
- Write plainly and can explain a technical finding to someone who isn't technical
- Are comfortable with spreadsheets and willing to learn new tools
- Want to see what it takes to build a company, and maybe start one yourself
Nice to have, not required: Python, SQL, GIS, data visualization, coursework in energy, buildings, or sustainability, or experience in facilities, construction, or emergency management.
Why this internship
- Real buildings, real data, real customers. Nothing here is a practice exercise.
- Direct mentorship from a founder who has built programs across three continents and now builds in Maryland
- Exposure to the energy and utility sector, one of the fastest growing fields in the state, including the people who run it
- A finished project and a portfolio piece you can show an employer or a graduate program
- A seat at bwtech@UMBC, Maryland's largest research and technology park, with its network of founders, mentors, and investors
- Eligibility to apply for the Shattuck Family Entrepreneurial Scholars/Fellows award after a successful placement
How to apply
Apply through the Shattuck Family Internship Program via the UMBC Career Center on Handshake. Submit a resume and a short cover letter that answers:
- What interests you about energy, buildings, or the data behind them?
- Tell us about one time you figured something out that nobody asked you to figure out.
- What do you hope to walk away with at the end of the semester?
Questions about the role can be directed to Michelle Ware-Allen, Founder and CEO, Orivia Tech, michelle@oriviatech.com.
Equal Opportunity
Orivia Tech is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and are committed to a respectful, inclusive workplace.
Employer information for program review
Legal name: Orivia Institute LLC (doing business as Orivia Tech)
Business address: 909 Rose Ave., Suite 400, North Bethesda, MD 20852
Phone: (240) 712-0936
Work site: bwtech@UMBC Energy and Cyber Incubator, Catonsville, MD, plus remote
Industry: Civic technology, energy informatics, building intelligence
Stage: Early-stage startup, founder-led, resident in the bwtech@UMBC incubator and Scale Up program
Supervisor and mentor: Michelle Ware-Allen, Founder and CEO
Position type: Part-time internship, 8 to 10 hours per week, one semester. This is not a full-time position.
Mentoring plan: Weekly one-on-one with the founder, written goals set in week one, mid-semester check-in, final presentation to founders and advisors in the last two weeks.
Academic credit: Orivia will complete any learning agreement or supervisor evaluation required for credit.