Mechanical Engineer Summer Intern

About The Role

Urban Sky is looking for a motivated Mechanical Engineering intern to join our R&D team for the summer. This is a hands-on role at the intersection of mechanical design, prototyping, and hardware development. You will work directly alongside our mechanical engineering team on real projects that fly to the stratosphere — not busy work.

The primary focus of this internship is a full redesign of our Action Cam payload, transitioning the system from its current Apeman action cameras to an Insta360 platform. This involves CAD work in Onshape, 3D printing and prototyping, hardware validation testing, and documentation. Beyond the Action Cam project, the intern will also own day-to-day operations of our R&D 3D printer room — managing print jobs, maintaining equipment, and keeping things running smoothly for the broader team. Additionally, the intern will support our transition of select hardware components to injection molding at scale, including design-for-manufacturability updates and working with vendors to get parts quoted and ordered.

This is a rare opportunity to work on real aerospace hardware in a fast-paced startup environment where your work will literally leave the ground.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the mechanical redesign of the Action Cam payload to accommodate a new Insta360 camera platform, including new housing, mount geometry, cradle design, and Quick Disconnect interface updates
• Develop and iterate on CAD designs in Onshape, following team conventions for part naming, revision control, and BOM management
• 3D print, assemble, and test prototype hardware; conduct fit checks and functional validation against a formal requirements set
• Execute a structured validation plan against all product requirements and document results in Notion
• Manage daily operations of the R&D 3D printer farm — sending prints, monitoring jobs, removing and delivering completed parts, and maintaining a clean and organized workspace
• Perform routine 3D printer maintenance including nozzle replacements, bed leveling, filament drying and swapping, and keeping a maintenance log
• Bring up new printers, calibrate them, and integrate them into the team's workflow
• Support the transition of select components (fill port housings, Starlink bracket) from 3D printing to injection molding — including DFM CAD updates, vendor quoting, and order coordination
• Contribute to hardware documentation including assembly instructions and design notes
• Support the broader mechanical engineering team with small tasks as they arise throughout the summer

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering or a closely related field
• Hands-on experience with 3D CAD — Onshape experience is a plus, but any major parametric CAD platform is acceptable
• Experience with 3D printing (FDM), including hands-on operation and basic troubleshooting
• Strong mechanical intuition and comfort working with physical hardware
• Ability to work independently, stay organized, and manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Excellent written communication skills — this role involves real documentation that the team will rely on

Nice-to-Haves / Preferred Skills

• Electrical engineering coursework or hands-on experience with electronics and embedded systems — candidates with EE exposure will stand out
• Firmware or software experience (Python, C/C++, or similar) — exceptional candidates may have the opportunity to contribute to firmware-adjacent work
• Experience with design for manufacturing (DFM), including injection molding or machined parts
• Familiarity with tolerance analysis and GD&T
• Prior internship or project experience in aerospace, robotics, or other hardware-intensive fields
• Experience with revision control workflows
• A strong portfolio of personal or academic hardware projects — show us things you have built and tested

Requirements

• Must be currently enrolled in an accredited college or university
• Must be a US Citizen or Permanent Resident
• Must be located in or able to relocate to Denver, CO for the duration of the internship (May – August)
• In-person role; this is not a remote position

Benefits

• Hands-on experience with real flight hardware in a fast-growing aerospace startup
• Direct mentorship from experienced mechanical and hardware engineers
• Paid internship

Colorado Pay Transparency

$25.00 USD / hour