June 2027 Co-op - Reliability Engineering #5953

Shield AI•San Diego, CA

17h

About The Position

Shield AI is seeking a co-op student to support reliability engineering for autonomous aircraft development. This paid, full-time program spans multiple months during the academic year and provides hands-on experience in hardware development and testing. The anticipated start date is June 2027, with a flexible end date. The co-op will own a project tailored to the program’s start date, duration, and location, contributing directly to aircraft development objectives. A senior engineer will provide technical mentorship and professional guidance. The role may involve occasional travel for testing or supplier engagements. Example projects include qualifying PCBA materials through material selection and testing; performing reliability analyses on avionics, computing, and high-voltage power electronics; environmentally testing avionics systems; developing software tools for component analysis; running HALT campaigns; and conducting failure analysis on electronic products or components.

Requirements

Have completed at least the second year of a relevant degree; fields may include Mechanical, Materials, Reliability, or Electrical Engineering.
Have strong technical fundamentals.
Have participated in an engineering team or club.
Have experience with relevant design software and tools. Examples listed include Altium, ANSYS Mechanical, SolidWorks, KiCAD, and an oscilloscope.
Have hands-on experience with materials characterization equipment, such as SEM, microscopes, CT, FTIR, or DSC.
Demonstrate ownership of project outcomes and a record of delivering strong results.
Be a hardworking, trustworthy, kind teammate who holds themselves and others to high standards.

Responsibilities

Support environmental and stress testing, including temperature cycling, vibration, and HALT/HASS, to validate hardware reliability.
Assist with failure analysis and root-cause investigations for manufacturing non-conformances and field returns.
Analyze test results and field data to identify potential failure modes and reliability risks.
Collaborate with design engineers to apply design-for-reliability practices.
Participate in design reviews and FMEA activities.
Support corrective actions and process improvements to improve hardware reliability.
Review materials, manufacturing processes, and component selections for reliability considerations.
Use data-analysis tools such as Python to support reliability assessments and reporting.
Work with engineering, manufacturing, and supplier teams.
Travel occasionally to support testing or supplier engagements as needed.
Complete an assigned project tailored to the co-op’s start date, duration, and location.