Controls & Dynamics Intern (Summer 2026) at Zipline · South…

Summary: Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move, aiming to solve urgent access challenges through autonomous delivery drones. The Controls & Dynamics Intern will contribute to the development and testing of flight software systems, gaining hands-on experience in improving the performance of vehicle controllers and analyzing flight data. Responsibilities: - Contribute to the design, implementation, testing and release of innovative flight algorithms that improve the operational performance of our vehicle controllers - Create tools and tests to demonstrate your design performance and protect against software regressions, using both theoretical guarantees and simulations - Analyze flight data to assess recent changes and upgrades, looking for regressions and potential areas for future improvement - Design onboard integrity tests to communicate when the system performance is degraded - Present key results and changes to the broader engineering team Required Qualifications: - Your applied math skills stand out even among aerospace engineers - You think simulations and working with hardware are both fun - You have owned and developed controls solutions for a team project, thesis, or competition - Exposure in one or more of the following areas: precision integrated inertial navigation, dynamic modeling of complex systems, linear control analysis, or optimal control with uncertainty - Software engineering skills, preferably with both embedded software (C, C++) and technical computing (MATLAB, python, Julia, etc.). Experience with Github and working in a multi-developer environment is an advantage Required Skills: Applied math, Controls solutions, Software engineering Important Skills: Precision navigation, Dynamic modeling, Embedded software, Technical computing, C programming, C++ programming, MATLAB, Python Nice-to-Have Skills: GitHub, Julia, Simulation, Team project experience Internship Start Date: Start in 2026 Summer Benefits: Housing stipend, Overtime pay, Relocation support, Paid sick time, And more