Aircraft Software Integration Intern (Summer 2027)

Zipline•South San Francisco, CA

5d•Onsite

About The Position

This internship provides an opportunity to gain hands-on experience at the intersection of robotics, embedded software, and systems engineering. The Software Integration team plays a critical role in ensuring the software that flies Zipline's autonomous aircraft works reliably and safely in the real world. Interns will help test and integrate features that affect how autonomous aircraft fly, adapt routes, and respond to unexpected situations. This involves working with simulation tools, flight telemetry, and testing infrastructure to ensure new software behaves as expected before deployment. The role offers a chance to learn how large, safety-critical autonomy systems are built and scaled, while contributing to technology that directly impacts communities.

Requirements

Currently pursuing a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Robotics, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related technical field.
Familiarity with Python for scientific programming (libraries such as NumPy, Pandas, SciPy, Plotly, etc.).
Basic understanding of SQL for querying and working with data.
Coursework or experience with statistics, linear algebra, or numerical methods.
Interest in applying engineering and data analysis to solve real-world problems.
Curiosity and analytical thinking to approach technical challenges.
Ability to learn how to frame engineering problems as data science problems.
Willingness to communicate findings clearly with technical and non-technical teammates.
Strong written and verbal skills for documentation and presentations.
Familiarity with machine learning concepts or frameworks (e.g., Scikit-learn, TensorFlow, Keras).
Some experience from coursework, projects, or self-study in building or experimenting with models.

Nice To Haves

Exposure to software development practices (version control with Git, debugging, documentation) is a plus.
Prior exposure to robotics systems, automation, or sensor data (through coursework, projects, or clubs) is a plus.
Exposure to object-oriented programming (e.g., C++ or Java) is a bonus.
Familiarity with cloud services (AWS, GCP, Azure) or big data tools (Spark, Hadoop) is helpful but not required.

Responsibilities

Assist in analyzing datasets from engineering systems, vehicle sensors, and other sources to uncover patterns and support predictive modeling efforts.
Help design clear and visually appealing charts and dashboards using tools such as Matplotlib, Seaborn, Plotly, or Tableau to communicate findings.
Contribute to the creation and maintenance of real-time dashboards that track key metrics and system performance.
Support data cleaning, preprocessing, and organization tasks to make datasets ready for analysis.
Write simple SQL queries and learn how to work with databases.
Gain exposure to machine learning by assisting with model development and validation for autonomy applications.
Learn to apply scientific and engineering programming techniques to develop small data pipelines, automate processes, and run simulations.
Support software-related tasks such as building scripts or tools to improve workflows and automation.