The Air Vehicle Systems and Test Teams develop, integrate, and verify the mechanical and fluid systems that make Shield AI's autonomous aircraft function as complete vehicles.
The team works across actuation and mechanisms, fluid and thermal systems, equipment installations, test hardware, instrumentation, and interfaces with structures, electrical systems, propulsion, and manufacturing. As an intern, you will work alongside engineers on a real program need, taking a scoped project from requirements and concept development through design, build, test, data review, and design improvement.
Intern Project Scope & Description:
Own a scoped design project and contribute to adjacent team needs. The primary project may focus on aircraft hardware design and integration, a component or subsystem test stand, an environmental-test fixture, or a new test method.
Translate the project objective into clear requirements, interfaces, success criteria, a build plan, and a test approach with support from your mentor and project stakeholders.
Develop CAD models and drawings for brackets, mounts, tooling, fixtures, routing, or other hardware while considering loads, tolerances, access, manufacturability, and maintainability.
Use first-principles calculations and appropriate engineering tools to size hardware, make tradeoffs, predict performance, and identify technical risks before test.
Support fabrication, procurement, assembly, instrumentation, checkout, and troubleshooting of test articles, fixtures, and related hardware.
Define instrumentation and data-acquisition needs; write clear test procedures; and support component or subsystem testing under mentor supervision.
Reduce and interpret test data, compare results with requirements and predictions, document conclusions, and recommend practical design or test-process improvements.
Participate in design and test reviews, maintain clear engineering documentation, and present your work and results at the end of the internship. Other duties may be assigned as team needs evolve.
Required qualifications:
Currently pursuing an undergraduate, graduate, or Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related STEM field.
Strong foundation in mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, physics, and mathematics, plus enough electrical and programming fluency to work on multidisciplinary hardware.
Experience on a multidisciplinary hardware project through an internship, job, research lab, student team, club, or personal project, etc.
Great written and verbal communication.
Demonstrated history of showing ownership of project outcomes and delivering exceptional results.
Record of working hard, being a trustworthy teammate, holding yourself and others to high standards, and being kind to others.
Preferred qualifications:
Experience with Siemens NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, Creo, or a similar 3D CAD tool; Siemens NX is preferred.
Hands-on experience with machining, additive manufacturing, composite or sheet-metal fabrication, mechanical assembly, or rapid prototyping.
Familiarity with load, strain, pressure, flow, temperature, vibration, or motion measurement and with basic data-acquisition systems.
Experience using MATLAB, Python, LabVIEW, or similar tools to process, visualize, and interpret engineering data.
Experience with test fixtures, actuators, electric motors, pumps, mechanisms, fluid systems, thermal systems, or other electromechanical hardware.
Demonstrated adaptability, agility, and the ability to innovate under pressure to meet dynamic project demands and drive successful
Skills Required
- Currently pursuing an undergraduate, graduate, or Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related STEM field
- Strong foundation in mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, physics, and mathematics
- Sufficient electrical and programming fluency to work on multidisciplinary hardware
- Experience on a multidisciplinary hardware project through an internship, job, research lab, student team, club, or personal project
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- Demonstrated ownership of project outcomes and delivery of exceptional results
- Ability to work hard, be a trustworthy teammate, maintain high standards, and treat others respectfully
- Experience with Siemens NX, SolidWorks, CATIA, Creo, or a similar 3D CAD tool; Siemens NX preferred
- Hands-on experience with machining, additive manufacturing, composite or sheet-metal fabrication, mechanical assembly, or rapid prototyping
- Familiarity with load, strain, pressure, flow, temperature, vibration, or motion measurement and basic data-acquisition systems
- Experience using MATLAB, Python, LabVIEW, or similar tools to process, visualize, and interpret engineering data
- Experience with test fixtures, actuators, electric motors, pumps, mechanisms, fluid systems, thermal systems, or other electromechanical hardware
- Adaptability, agility, and ability to innovate under pressure in dynamic project environments
What the Team is Saying
What We Do
At Shield AI, you won't wait years to see your work reach the field. You'll build hardware and software that operates in the real world right now, in the hands of the people who depend on it. Hivemind, our AI pilot, has been flying since 2018. It has flown more than 30 platforms, including an F-16, and it now sits under a U.S. Air Force production contract for Collaborative Combat Aircraft. When you write code or shape a system here, you contribute to technology with a proven flight record and a clear production future. V-BAT flies intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions with an operational record that stretches from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific. It delivers eyes where they matter most, in the most demanding conditions on earth. The teams behind it watch their work get tested where the stakes are real. X-BAT takes its first flight this year. It's an AI-piloted fighter that needs no runway, built to operate where traditional aircraft can't. Join now and you help shape a program at its earliest, most formative stage. That's the kind of ground-floor work that defines a career. Do the most impactful work of your life, on problems that matter. Autonomy at this level asks a lot of you. You'll take on problems in perception, planning, and control that few teams anywhere are equipped to solve. You'll work across disciplines, from aerospace and robotics to machine learning and systems engineering, alongside people who hold themselves to an exacting standard and expect the same from you. Our mission is clear: protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. That purpose runs through every decision, every design review, and every deployment. It's why the work here carries a weight you can feel. Ready to join our mission? Explore our open roles and find where you fit.
Why Work With Us
Founded in 2015 by a former Navy SEAL, Shield AI builds AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft. Veterans aren't an afterthought here, they're at every level. It's why the work carries weight: AI pilots and uncrewed aircraft flying real missions, from Ukraine to the Indo-Pacific, protecting service members and civilians.
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Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
