Mechanical Engineering Intern / Co-op, Rocket Motors - Fall 2026

Your Mission

As a Mechanical Engineering Intern / Co-op at GITAI, you will join the team developing hardware for our Space-Based Interceptor program. Depending on program needs, you may work on satellite bus components, rocket motor hardware, mechanical interfaces, prototypes, ground support equipment, or test fixtures.

You will take a defined piece of hardware from an early concept into the real world. This may include creating CAD and drawings, working through manufacturing issues with technicians or suppliers, supporting assembly and inspection, preparing and running tests, and updating the design based on the results. The work moves quickly, and you may shift between your desk, the shop floor, suppliers, and test sites.

You will not be given a polished training plan or a neatly packaged assignment. The problems are real, priorities move, and the engineer guiding you may be hard to reach because they are also working against demanding program schedules. Even so, you will be trusted with a real part of the work. We expect you to take ownership, ask for help before you get stuck, find the people and information you need, accept direct feedback, and keep moving when the path is unclear.

What You’ll Drive

• Own clearly scoped mechanical hardware through design, manufacturing, assembly, testing, troubleshooting, and iteration.
• Design and update mechanical components, assemblies, interfaces, prototypes, ground support equipment, and test fixtures using 3D CAD and engineering drawings.
• Work directly with engineers, technicians, machinists, suppliers, and test personnel to turn incomplete requirements and early concepts into hardware that can be built and tested.
• Support hands-on fabrication, assembly, inspection, integration, and test activities, including hardware setup, instrumentation, data collection, teardown, and post-test inspection.
• Investigate manufacturing problems, integration issues, and test failures, then quickly apply what you learn to the next hardware iteration.
• Document hardware configurations, design decisions, build issues, test results, and lessons learned, and support field tests outside the Torrance office when required.

What We’re Looking For

We do not expect interns to arrive as finished engineers. We expect you to have built enough real hardware to know that engineering is rarely clean, and to have the drive to keep learning when the first design does not work.

You should have:

• Current enrollment in a bachelor’s or master’s degree program in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, or a related field.
• At least one year of sustained participation in a technically rigorous student engineering project, such as Formula SAE, rocketry, CubeSat, robotics, Baja SAE, or Design-Build-Fly, with meaningful hands-on involvement.
• Experience taking hardware through several stages of development, such as design, fabrication, assembly, testing, troubleshooting, and redesign.
• Experience using a professional 3D CAD system and reading mechanical drawings. SolidWorks experience is preferred but not required.
• A willingness to work hard, learn quickly, take direct feedback, move across functional boundaries, and do the hands-on work required to move hardware forward.
• The judgment to raise problems early, ask clear questions, and keep working through ambiguity, setbacks, and changing priorities.
• Ability to work fully onsite at GITAI’s office in Torrance, California.
• U.S. citizenship due to potential access to export-controlled and government-controlled information.

Strong Plus:

• Experience with satellite hardware, rocket propulsion, solid rocket motors, robotics, mechanisms, pressure systems, or aerospace test equipment.
• Experience owning a component or subsystem through multiple design, build, test, and redesign cycles.
• Familiarity with GD&T, tolerance analysis, machining, sheet metal, composites, welding, additive manufacturing, or bonded assemblies.
• Experience with mechanical testing, instrumentation, data acquisition, structural analysis, or thermal analysis.
• Experience working directly with machinists, technicians, suppliers, or manufacturing vendors.

Location & Employment Details

• Location: Torrance, CA (onsite). Travel to test sites, including Mojave and locations throughout the greater Los Angeles area, is expected based on program needs.
• Employment Type: Part-time, temporary, non-exempt
• Compensation: $25 - $40 per hour. Final compensation will be determined based on academic level, relevant technical experience, and demonstrated hands-on engineering capability.
• Typical Work Hours: Monday to Friday, approximately 9:00am – 6:00pm (onsite). Flexibility is expected based on mission schedules and program needs.

No agency submissions, please.