Mechanical Engineering Intern (Summer 2026) at Zipline · South…

Summary: Zipline is on a mission to transform the way goods move, aiming to solve urgent access challenges with their autonomous delivery drones. As a Mechanical Engineering Intern, you will contribute to significant projects by designing, building, and testing mechanical systems that support the company's logistics operations. Responsibilities: - Take product and engineering requirements to develop concepts and evaluate tradeoffs for each - Use 2D and 3D CAD tools to design parts and assemblies based on sound engineering principles - Use resources creatively to design, build, and test prototypes to gather quick learnings - Work cross-functionally with other Zipline teams and suppliers to review designs - Design, build, and run electro-mechanical testers that you develop to prove reliability of critical components - Evaluate designs and components on a material, element, and fully integrated product level - Root cause failures and develop a test to replicate the failure mode - Document your work so that others can easily understand key decisions made - Designing, building, testing, and running a flexible blind-mate ducting connection between an aircraft and a ground-based cooling station - Developing a service strategy for removing a docked aircraft from a ground station using a custom designed hand cart - Creating a communications tower with integrated antennas and lightning protection meant to relay vital telemetry information from the drone to the operators during flight - Characterization of proposed and delivered materials, and properties (static strength, durability, and dynamic response) of configured structures - Building a wing cycle tester to identify and eliminate risk for each wing iteration and prove reliability with cycles Required Qualifications: - You must have completed at least the second year of your Undergraduate studies. Masters and PhD students are also eligible - You'll bring solid mechanical engineering fundamentals for structural analysis, sizing parts, and integrating components into a design with minimal help - You'll bring automation experience from working with actuators and Raspberry Pi's (or similar) - You're well versed in CAD, and have designed multiple projects with it - You've worked on complex projects that require mechanical, electrical, and software design - You're quick to change direction when you realize you've made a mistake OR could achieve the same goal in a simpler way - You bias to action and communicate consistently with your team to ensure everyone is focused on meeting the project goals on time - You're excited to build on your design skills with brainstorms, design reviews, and failure mode analysis - You can anticipate, plan and schedule your own work - You bring a 'can do' attitude, because we have a lot of vital work to get done and only work with people who are invested in solving critical problems Required Skills: Mechanical Engineering, CAD Design, Prototyping Important Skills: Automation Experience Nice-to-Have Skills: Project Management Internship Start Date: Start in 2026 Summer Benefits: Housing stipend, Overtime pay, Relocation support, Paid sick time, And more