ONSITE - EPIC Test Engineer

This project is a FULL-TIME, ON-SITE internship working on sensor development and fabric testing for supersonic parachutes. Preferred candidates will be an UNDERGRADUATE JUNIOR OR SENIOR with interest in experimental testing, textile engineering, and stress-strain analysis.

Parachutes are used for landing many exciting NASA missions, like the Mars 2020 Rover, and they are critical elements in bringing our astronauts back home. Thus, NASA researchers are continually working to improve parachute technology. The "Enhancing Parachutes by Instrumenting the Canopy" project is led by Early Career employees who are investigating highly elastic strain gauges that can be applied to the canopy of a parachute. This technology will deepen our understanding of parachute physics and allow more robust parachutes in the future.

In this internship, you will work with a disk test rig or uniaxial test machine to evaluate strain gauges in a 3D strain state on the parachute fabric. This will include: designing and documenting test setup, assembling the test equipment, and performing tests. You will have the chance to develop skills and gain experience in: experimental test setups, requirements development, test development, procedure writing, test safety, pressure systems, textile testing, data analysis, and oral and written communication.

The intern will be a part of a small and interactive team. The team meets twice a week and if necessary, the intern will meet weekly with their mentor.

Full-time interns (40h/week) are expected to complete working hours during Armstrong’s core work hours of M-F 8AM-3PM PST. The EPIC team follows the 9/80 Flex schedule, meaning working 9-hour days with every other Friday off. "On" Fridays are 8-hour days.

DESIRED SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES:
Works well with team and individually
Time management
Self-driven and motivated
MATLAB or Python experience
General Design and Manufacturing
Experimental setup or lab experience

An ideal candidate will use the 'why do you want this internship' section to explain why they are interested in this specific internship as opposed to a general statement about working at NASA.

**Eligible Applicants:** Student
**Academic Level:** Undergraduate Junior, Undergraduate Senior, Graduate Master's
**Activity Type:** In-person
**Citizenship:** US Citizen Only
**Type:** Internships