

Ask HN: Any US based company interested in an EE/CS Bachelor for free?  - hiddenfeatures

TL;DR: My friend is searching for a US-based company to write his master's thesis. You do NOT have to pay him a single dime. He will be available from 4/1/13 to 8/31/13 to work in the US. He has all the required permits to enter and work in the US.
- you need to be US-based 
- no payment towards him
- five months total
- he's really good
- DEADLINE to get in contact with him: 2/24/13 23:59 UTC +0100<p>Details:<p>He was already interviewed and selected by a well-known company in the FPGA-industry based in San Jose, CA.
He is a student at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich (Germany) and studies Applied Computer Technologies (A mixture of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). 
He is among the five best students in class.&#60;p&#62;His main fields of interest are FPGA- and Microcontroller-programming.
He is 25 years old and an officer in the German Armed Forces.<p>However, due to legal concerns on the companies part, the gig fell apart at the last minute. The company was concerned about him NOT getting any payment (legal concerns about minimum wages in CA).<p>If you are interested please write an email to kai.wissel@unibw.de
- DEADLINE to get in contact with him: 2/24/13 23:59 UTC +0100
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hiddenfeatures
FAQs: (more readable version here: <http://pastebin.com/Y6QzCEpc>)

What is in it for me?

Get a very good Bachelor of Engineering for free. He'll be working five months
for you, you pay him nothing.

What's the catch here?

The biggest points seem to be: a) you are NOT allowed to make any payments
towards him b) you will have to sign a cooperation treaty with the Bundeswehr
(German Armed Forces) - you can get an english translation of the treaty upon
request c) He is not allowed to sign any contracts with your company. You will
have to accept the cooperation treaty :-(

Why doesn't he want money?

Because he is an officer in the German Armed Forces and already gets a full
pay. He is simple not allowed to receive payments

Who will pay for this?

The Bundeswehr will pay for his expenses (air travel, lodging, food)

When will he be able to work?

The time frame is 4/1/13 to 8/31/13. He will be able to stay in the US for a
total of 5 month

Does he have full legal rights to enter/work in the US?

Absolutely. He will enter the US with a military ID and a NATO travel order.
While in the US, he will not work for you. He is still employed by the
Bundeswehr and is just an "external employee" at your company. This procedure
has been done about a dozen times in the past two years and is covered by
NATO-status of forces agreements. For more information:
[http://germany.usembassy.gov/visa/niv/visacategories/diploma...](http://germany.usembassy.gov/visa/niv/visacategories/diplomatic/)
(scroll down about 80%)

Why do you ask on HN ?

Because the previous agreement with another company fell through and he's
running out of time/options.

What projects are suitable for the thesis ?

Anything in the following realms: \- FPGA programming \- Microcontroller
programming \- Mixed hardware/software development projects

The perfect project should be reasonably challenging (i.e. worthy of writing a
master's thesis about the topic) and ideally be self-contained (so he can work
on it all on his one - with supervision of course)

Where can I get a hold of him / Where can I get the cooperation treaty ?

Write an email to kai.wissel@unibw.de \- DEADLINE to get in contact with him:
2/24/13 23:59 UTC +0100

~~~
tnorthcutt
_you will have to sign a cooperation treaty with the Bundeswehr (German Armed
Forces)_

Can a U.S. corporation legally sign a _treaty_ with a foreign military?

~~~
hiddenfeatures
That is an excellent question. Thanks for asking it. !!!I am not a lawyer!!!

The contract reads:

"The Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry of
Defense, the latter represented by The Bundeswehr University, Munich 85577
Neubiberg" (yada-yada-yada)

The contract is between a U.S. corporation and the federal government. It has
to be legal, because the German Army uses some American Weaponry (e.g. the M82
sniper rifle).

And as stated in the FAQ: This has been done before - numerous times.

~~~
gknoy
I think that the GP is calling attention do the word "treaty" versus
"contract".

~~~
hiddenfeatures
Oh... I see. Thanks for pointing that out.

That's just a wrong translation. Sorry for that. The German word is "Vertrag"
- which can be translated as "contract" as well as "treaty".

EDIT 1: I'll update the FAQ regarding this.

EDIT 2: Then again... I won't, because I am no longer able to :-)

