2025 summer interns design bold ideas for I3C challenge

The challenge is an opportunity for interns to find creative solutions to pressing world problems.
September 8, 2025
Anne McGovern | Communications & Community Outreach

At the end of July, six teams of graduate and undergraduate students participating in the Laboratory's summer research program gathered in the auditorium to take part in the final event for the Intern Innovative Idea Challenge (I3C). The I3C is a yearly competition for summer interns in which they design a method or device that solves a real-world problem. After a round of initial voting and a poster presentation event, the finalists pitch their ideas to a panel of Lincoln Laboratory leadership, including Director Melissa Choi, who then choose the competition winner.

The challenge encourages interns to flex their creative muscles and work on a project outside of their formal internship duties.

Four judges sit at a decorated table for the event.
Laboratory leadership, including Director Melissa Choi (middle), judge the final I3C event.

The team that won this year's challenge designed the Smart Polarizing Electro-Optic Contact System (SPECS), a wearable eye-protection device for shielding users against laser attacks and glare in situations such as driving, reflective battlefields, and photophobia/light sensitivity. The device works like transition sunglasses, but is the size of a contact lens.

The four interns from the winning team hold their awards for a photo. They are standing in a line together with Director Melissa Choi.
From left to right, SPECS challenge winners Alexander Duncan, Trevor Shooshan, Angelina Zhang, and Marcello Espinosa accept their first-place award with Director Melissa Choi. Photo: Glen Cooper

"The I3C added a whole dimension to my summer experience, from diving deep on something totally different from my summer project to lots of hands-on experience with communication and presentation skills," says Marcello Espinosa, who was part of the SPECS team and interned for the Interceptor and Sensor Technology Group. "We had amazing mentors who helped us grow in that aspect and gave great advice on things beyond I3C. I’m especially grateful for my amazing team, whom I got to grow close with and learn a lot from."

Intern Kynnedy Smith stand in front of her team's poster while explaining her project to a Laboratory staff member.
Second place winner Kynnedy Smith explains her team's project, a wearable patch for real-time blood clot detection, at the I3C poster event. Smith's team members are David Wang, Jennifer Wang, Surabhi Ghetti, and Nicolino Berlingeri. Photo: Glen Cooper

"I3C was a lot of fun," says Nick Carboni, who participated in the challenge and interned for the Cyber-Physical Systems Group. "Not only did I get close to my teammates, but I got to experience what presenting and pitching an idea looks like at the Laboratory."