Flight Systems -Aerospace/Mechanical Engineering - Intern

Leidos is seeking a talented Aerospace or Mechanical Engineering student to join a diverse team creating unique solutions for complex flight vehicle engineering challenges for an internship.  Leidos provides responsive, cost-effective engineering, scientific, and IT Solutions engaging in the defense, space, cyber, and commercial fields.

This position is for an internship for aero or mechanical engineering student within the Flight Systems Department as part of the Missiles & Aviation Division.  Engineers in the Flight Systems Department provide solutions to complex, technical problems involving analysis, design, flight testing and/or autonomous solutions of various types of missiles, space systems, hypersonics, acquisition systems, fixed & rotary wing aircraft, and more.

Engineers in this position will work closely with full-time engineers and complete a technical project involving one or more of the following areas:

• Developing and maintaining simulations to evaluate performance and flight dynamics of various types of aerospace systems. 

  • Create 6-DOF, 3-DOF, and/or hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) simulations by incorporating aerodynamic & propulsion models, Guidance/Navigation/Control (GNC) algorithms, and other features to accurately characterize the capabilities of foreign or domestic missiles systems and other flight vehicles. 

  • Conduct accurate, timely, detailed analysis of vehicle dynamics, complete design trade-studies, support mission planning operations, prepare for live flight test events, as well as other responsibilities. 

  • Provide accurate assessments to make programmatic design decisions and/or inform Department of Defense policy makers, acquisition program, warfighter consumers, or other organizations to support their needs. 

• Support design & analysis of GNC efforts for various flight systems. 

  • Create guidance/autopilot routines for various aerospace vehicles, many being complex, “niche” weapon systems that require novel techniques. 

  • Develop or improve toolsets to support future efforts and evaluate/improve existing algorithms.  Implement algorithms into 6-DOF simulations, HWIL facilities, and operational flight software. 

  • Assess, test, integrate, and/or develop navigation systems in simulation and hardware environments.  Candidate will leverage sim and experimental data to evaluate GPS, IMU, and other sensors as well as implement Kalman filter algorithms. 

  • Conduct trade studies for design decisions, develop techniques to verify performance, and support flight tests with pre-flight predictions and post-flight analyses.

• Support design, development, analysis, and test for UAV embedded systems, sensors, and training applications

  • Develop modular aircraft dynamics models based on first principles for use in performance analysis and operator training.  Engineer must design and test simulation interface with executive flight software and/or HWIL environments.

  • Assist systems engineering and flight-test support as needed.

Basic Qualifications:

• This position requires a fundamental understanding of aerospace and mechanical engineering concepts, particularly including vehicle flight dynamics, mechanics, guidance/navigation/controls, aerodynamics, and propulsion combined with a solid foundation of programming experience in Matlab/Simulink, C/C++, Python, or other language.

• Candidate must possess strong technical communication skills and an ability to work both independently and in collaborative team environments.

• Candidates must be a resident of North Alabama area or willing to temporarily relocate in order to work on-site at the Huntsville, AL office.

• Candidates must be currently enrolled in an ABET accredited college or university and Pursuing Master’s Degree in Aerospace, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, or related field with a minimum GPA of 3.0.

• Candidate must be a US citizen.

Desired Qualifications that Help You Stand Out:

• Familiarity with DoD digital engineering paradigm and experience

• Prior work with post-flight data analysis

• Strong math skills in the areas of linear algebra, matrix math, statistics, trigonometry, and coordinate transformation

• Experience with

  • Linux, hardware-in-the-loops simulation architectures, and/or GPS simulators

  • Configuration management software, such as Git or Mercurial

  • Trajectory analysis tools, such as TAOS or OTIS

  • Using numerical optimization techniques

  • Simulink code-generation

  • Optimal estimation and controls

  • Sensor fusion and state estimation techniques (eg. Kalman or Particle Filters)

  • Terrestrial navigation, SAASM, M-Code, and GPS-denied operations

  • GNC applications of flight vehicles, guided munitions, and/or UAS systems

  • Aircraft systems including sensors, actuators, embedded systems, and electrical power

  • Private/commercial piloting and/or RC/UAS piloting

Original Posting Date:

While subject to change based on business needs, Leidos reasonably anticipates that this job requisition will remain open for at least 3 days with an anticipated close date of no earlier than 3 days after the original posting date as listed above.

Pay Range:

The Leidos pay range for this job level is a general guideline only and not a guarantee of compensation or salary. Additional factors considered in extending an offer include (but are not limited to) responsibilities of the job, education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities, as well as internal equity, alignment with market data, applicable bargaining agreement (if any), or other law.