Aerospace Intern

Job Description:

AMA is currently accepting applications for a motivated intern to support various multi-disciplinary engineering tasks related to spacecraft, space mission design, and software development with a team of engineers at the AMA Denver, CO office beginning Summer 2026. The selected applicant will contribute to nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) or nuclear electric propulsion (NEP) modeling efforts.

The qualified candidate will be a junior or senior undergraduate or graduate student. Specific tasks may include requirements development, trade studies, spacecraft design, system sizing, physics-based modeling and simulation including heat transfer/thermodynamic systems, trajectory modeling, and software optimization. If the applicant has research experience related to nuclear systems, they may contribute to reactor design and space nuclear applications. Given the wide range of potential analysis activities, the ability to multi-task between several unrelated tasks/projects is desired.

There is significant desire for an applicant with strong organizational skills and thermal modeling experience. AMA is seeking applicants with entrepreneurial spirit who are organized and willing to accept responsibility. The hourly rate for this position is $22-$31.50/hour and is commensurate with experience and education.

US citizenship or Permanent Residency is required.

Responsibilities:

• The successful applicant will assist AMA's engineering team with performing analyses on a range of space systems subjects, which may include the following tasks:
  • Performing literature reviews, developing models, and performing data analysis to define the design space and identify knowledge gaps.
  • Assisting in the development of presentation and reporting materials to NASA and related agency stakeholders.
  • Presenting and communicating technical data to an internal multidisciplinary team and on occasion customer stakeholders.
• Expected tasking includes:
  • Organization and documentation of past modeling efforts and publications.
  • Literature review and modeling to determine reference nuclear safe orbits.
  • Modeling of transient thermodynamic systems.
  • Contribution to system engineering tools in Python.
• Additional specific responsibilities will be dependent on strengths and interests of each intern ranging from:
  • Systems engineering tasks such as requirements development and trade studies.
  • Spacecraft system design, ranging from entire spacecraft MEL to engineering analysis of specific systems.
  • Technical tasks such as mass modeling, or software development/analysis related to mission or spacecraft design
  • Leadership opportunities such as organizing engineering sprints.
  • Technical writing and documentation of projects and engineering processes.
  • NTP or NEP reactor physics and thermal hydraulics modeling.
  • Space reactor development planning.

Requirements:

• The work is ITAR controlled - therefore, only US citizens or US permanent residents can be considered.
• Completion of at least three years of an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, or a related field.
• Experience or exposure to systems engineering or multidisciplinary engineering work.
• Technical writing experience with the ability to communicate complex technical concepts to a diverse team.
• Individual with self-starter attitude and strong organizational skills.

Desired

Qualifications:



Not all desired qualifications are necessary or expected from applicants. Tasks will be assigned based on applicant's interest, niche skills, and strengths.

• Completion of a Bachelor's Degree in Aerospace Engineering or a related field. The ideal candidate would be a graduate student or have several years of graduate level education and research.
• Project experience working with interdisciplinary teams on complex space systems.
• Experience with using MATLAB, Simulink or Python for performing engineering analyses.
• Good project experience with significant technical contribution directly relevant to the technical tasks listed above.
• Published proposal, research/professional scientific article, paper, or conference presentation.
• Experience using GIT, numerical methods, and software optimization techniques.
• Previous exposure to nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP), nuclear electric propulsion (NEP), or fission surface power (FSP).

Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA) is proud of our customer relationships, our diverse and dynamic work environment, and our employees' career satisfaction. AMA is a small business with a wide reach; headquartered in Hampton, VA, AMA has operations in Greenbelt, MD;
Huntsville, AL;
Dallas and Houston, TX;
Denver, CO;
Mountain View, CA; and Edwards Air Force Base, CA. With over 60 years of experience, AMA specializes in aerospace engineering, science, analytics, information technology, and visualization solutions. AMA combines the best of engineering, science, and mathematics capabilities with the latest in information technologies, visualization, and multimedia to build creative…