Thermal Engineer Intern (Fall 2026)

Job Description

About the Role
This is an hourly internship for students currently enrolled in a four-year university, offering the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to complex satellite hardware and/or software projects designed to expand humanity’s reach into the solar system. Interns will work on challenging problems, with many past participants having designed and tested hardware/software that is heading to space.

What You’ll Do
• Work together with the engineering team to design, evaluate, build, and test satellite hardware and/or software.
• Support design trades that successfully balance performance margins, resource use, risk, cost, and schedule.
• Perform thermal analysis to varying degrees of fidelity (simplified to detailed) on a variety of different types of hardware such as propulsion components, batteries, high powered electronics, RF components, mechanisms, and printed circuit boards (PCBs).
• Design, evaluate, procure and test thermal solutions such as heaters, heat pipes, thermal interface materials, and surface coatings.
• Develop processes and procedures for integration and assembly which ensure thermal design intent is met. Collaborate with the integration and test team in the installation of thermal hardware as needed.
• Plan and run thermal vacuum testing and verification at the component and spacecraft level.

You’re a Good Fit If You
• Are currently pursuing a B.S. or M.S. in mechanical, aerospace, or equivalent technical degree (e.g. physics or applied math)
• Have a passion and enthusiasm for hardware development, including working in a fast-paced environment and hands-on design and development
• Have demonstrated ability to personally design, build, and test hardware from scratch.
• Are a US Citizen or Green Card holder.

Bonus Qualifications
• Experience with CAD
• Experience with analytical software thermal analysis such as ANSYS and Thermal Desktop
• Experience with electronics systems design and packaging
• Experience (projects or previous internships) related to aerospace

Role Highlights & Compensation
• The base pay for this position is $29.00 per hour.
• Internships typically last for twelve weeks.