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CORVALLIS - Two undergraduate engineering students at Oregon State University who gained valuable computer software programming experience with the university's Open Source Laboratory are anxious to begin what they call "the perfect summer internships."

One project may help millions of computer users gain access to a popular Internet web browser, and the other will create new robotics technology to help children with disabilities.

But neither would have been possible, the students say, without the experience they gained in OSU's expanding work on "open source" software, or systems which are available freely to anyone.

"These opportunities would never have happened if OSU didn't have such a great open source computer organization," said Alex Polvi, a sophomore in computer science from Amity, Ore. "Not only has it given us invaluable experience, it has also made us very attractive to industry."

OSU is one of the universities leading the nation in the development of this evolving concept of software, which creates programs that are free, open for inspection and can be adapted by companies or individuals for their specific needs. Among other things, the university is very active with Firefox, a highly popular software program used in browsing the Internet.

At the same time, these systems are saving the university substantial amounts of money on sophisticated software programs needed in university operation, while also helping people and communities address their computer needs.

The work with Firefox will form the basis of Polvi's internship - he will work with the Mozilla Foundation, the lead developers of this software, to help increase its availability to many more users. Polvi will spend the summer working in Mountain View, Calif., and then return to his studies at OSU.

"We're trying to scale up the use of Firefox to hundreds of millions of users," Polvi said. "I'll be working in system administration, managing all the servers that are required to run things like mozilla.org websites, build machines, and perform other services."

The other internship is equally complex, but with a very compassionate goal.

"I'm going to be working with NASA experts on a robot called CosmoBot, which is designed to help educators and therapists give better care to children with special needs," said Brandon Philips, a sophomore in computer science from Sherwood, Ore. "It will be my job, along with two or three other students, to figure out how to integrate image processing, voice recognition and wireless sensors into the product."

The project will be at a NASA laboratory in College Park, Maryland, and include visits to artificial intelligence laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other research centers. Philips said he is looking forward to "working for some very talented people and making a difference in people's lives."

Robotic systems such as these, experts say, can combine wearable sensors with voice-activation to control electronic devices by gestures or body movements. Such systems can be used by people with disabilities and their therapists to integrate therapy, learning and play - and they will be tested in actual clinical and educational settings throughout the development process.

This particular project is one part of NASA's Robotics Internship Program, providing an avenue for students to participate in challenging projects on the frontiers of robotics research. Some of the projects have space applications, and others address societal needs.

The OSU Open Source Laboratory was the first such facility of its type at any public university in the nation. Its work provides international leadership in this computer concept and valuable educational experiences to OSU students.

And for two OSU students, the knowledge gained in the lab has opened the door to a couple of great summer jobs.