Aerospace Engineer – Stratospheric Systems

Urban Sky•Greenville, TX

14h•Onsite

About The Position

Urban Sky is seeking an Aerospace Engineer to help design and advance the next generation of high-performance stratospheric balloon systems. Our ideal candidate has hands-on experience with balloon systems, aerostats, airships, blimps, or similar soft-goods-based systems. A background in soft goods, paired with a strong foundation in physics and material sciences, would be a good fit for this position. In this role, you will need to understand material properties such as density, thickness, creep, tensile, elongation, tear, puncture, DSC, melt index, low temp brittleness, UV resistance, stress crack etc. and how to apply them to platform design. You’ll dive deep into the science and art of ballooning, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with trial-and-error testing and first principles thinking. You should be comfortable experimenting with new designs, flying prototypes that may fail (always with safety and regulatory compliance in mind), and embracing innovation at the cutting edge of aerospace.

Requirements

Experience developing systems made of thin films or fabric
Strong understanding of physics principles including gas laws, thermodynamics and aerodynamics
Aerospace/Mechanical dual discipline preferred
Strong understanding of mechanical design
Strong understanding of material science
Strength in mathematics or an ability to develop balloon designs iteratively
Must be US Citizen or Permanent Resident
Must be located near Greenville, Tx or willing to relocate to Greenville, Tx

Nice To Haves

Specific experience developing balloon designs that were used in practice (actually flew)
Field experience flying balloons
Testing Data Evaluation and incorporation into mathematical models
Cold brittleness
Vacuum and / or pressure testing
Modulus
Stress/strain/creep/CTE
Understanding of meteorology and product environmental conditions and effects

Responsibilities

Design Cutting Edge Stratospheric Balloon Systems
Use and expansion of the in-house design tool, create mathematical models or other tools to evaluate potential balloon performance
Creating and updating material models (over temperature and pressure gradients) based on in-house and in field test data
Understanding material process/performance phases and performance effects therein
Design and analyze auxiliary components like structural mounting Points(fittings), Fill Ports, Destruct Devices, and Vents
Design flight hardware including electromechanical assemblies
Participate in the design of heat sealing/bonding systems and other critical equipment
Participate in the design of launch systems and other critical ground equipment
Design and analyze auxiliary components like structural mounting points, fill ports and vents
Design product packaging per internal and external regulatory requirements
Design for and with Manufacturing, Quality, and Customer Teams
Support manufacturing engineering and configuration management efforts for the platforms you design.
Have strong configuration management head space in all aspects of R&D design and manufacturing control.
Participate and contribute to operation review board (ORB).
Understanding of different development cycles and approaches and when to apply them.
Participate in customer-facing events as the Balloon Engineering representative as requested by management.