Space Mechanical Design Engineering Intern - Summer 2027

About the role

As a Space Mechanical Design Intern, you will contribute to the mechanical design and development of Antares reactor and power systems, with a particular focus on space applications. You will work on hardware ranging from space radiators and power conversion components to reactor mechanical systems, taking projects from early design and manufacturing concepts through integration and testing. You will also evaluate how Antares systems could be deployed across different applications, translating customer operating conditions into technical requirements and concepts of operation. This role offers exposure to both detailed hardware development and the system-level engineering required to deploy nuclear power systems in space and terrestrial applications.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and test space radiator hardware
• Develop manufacturing approaches for scaling radiator technology from small test coupons to full-scale hardware
• Contribute to the development and integration of space power conversion systems
• Own the design and development of power conversion components such as recuperators, primary heat exchangers, and piping
• Support overall mechanical integration of space power conversion systems
• Contribute to reactor mechanical design
• Perform microgrid analyses, including identifying nominal customer load profiles, outage frequencies, integration with other energy sources, and power distribution requirements
• Develop reactor deployment assessments and concepts of operation for candidate applications
• Evaluate external markets, including process heat, to identify potential reactor deployment concepts and customer use cases
• Translate potential customer applications into technical requirements
• Expand technoeconomic analyses to evaluate potential reactor applications and deployment scenarios

Requirements

• Enrolled in at least a bachelor’s degree program, and going into your Junior or Senior year of studies
• Must have prior internship experience, or significant (>1yr) project team, laboratory, or research experience

Skills

• GPA of 3.5 or above
• Experience in a University club or organization, leadership role preferred
• Strong interpersonal and technical communication skills (examples: leading a student project team, presenting research at conferences, etc.)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with attention to detail
• Ability to work cross-departmentally with different groups and teams
• Ability to