Intern in the Electrical Department - Power Systems Architecture Section

ESA; Noordwijk; On-site; EUR 12,000 - 19,000; Part time

Job summary

ESA's ESTEC campus in Noordwijk hosts an internship in the Electrical Department - Power Systems Architecture Section. The role offers hands-on engineering experience in AI-driven design and control of DC/DC converters within a multidisciplinary team.

As an intern, you will analyze electrical performance, explore failure modes, and contribute to innovative space power system architectures for future missions. English or French proficiency is required.

Qualifications

• This internship requires a university student, preferably in final or penultimate year of a Master’s program.
• You must be enrolled at your university for the full duration of the internship.
• Knowledge of English or French is required; other ESA languages are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to AI for Advanced Digital Control and Failure Prediction of DC/DC converters.
• Assist in AI-assisted design of DC/DC converters and power electronics workflows.
• Collaborate with power electronics and spacecraft systems specialists in an engineering setting.
• Use simulation tools to assess electrical performance and study system dynamics.

Skills

English proficiency

French proficiency

Power electronics knowledge

FPGA programming

DC/DC converters

Education

Master's degree student

Tools

FPGA tools

Job description

This internship is for an Intern in the Electrical Department - Power Systems Architecture Section.

• Type of Appointment: Intern.
• Location: ESTEC, Noordwijk, Netherlands.

Our team and mission

The Power Systems Architecture Section supports space missions and technology research and development activities by defining and optimising spacecraft power system architectures. The team contributes to the sizing and design of power generation, power conditioning and power distribution systems that safely regulate and deliver electrical power to spacecraft equipment.

As an intern, you will work in a multidisciplinary engineering environment, collaborating with specialists in power electronics and spacecraft systems. You will use advanced engineering tools and simulation techniques to assess electrical performance, analyse system dynamics and investigate failure modes under different space mission conditions. This provides a unique opportunity to contribute to innovative technologies that support future space missions.

Field(s) of activity for the internship

You can choose among the following topics:

1) Topic 1: AI for Advanced Digital Control and Failure Prediction of DC/DC Converters

This topic will be hosted in the Power Systems Architecture section in the TEC-EP Division. The objective is to investigate how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can enhance the performance, robustness, and autonomy of digitally controlled DC/DC converters for space applications. The work may include AI-assisted control strategies, adaptive tuning of control parameters, anomaly detection, health monitoring, and predictive failure analysis based on telemetry and operational data. You will explore techniques such as machine learning, neural networks, and digital twins to improve converter efficiency, stability, reliability, and fault tolerance while supporting future intelligent power management architectures.

2) Topic 2: AI assisted Design of DC/DC converters

This topic will be hosted in the Power Systems Architecture section in the TEC-EP Division. The objective is to explore the application of Artificial Intelligence to support and accelerate the design of DC/DC converters. Areas of investigation may include topology selection, semiconductor sizing and loss estimation, magnetic component design, control system development, and multi-objective optimisation. The work will assess how specialised AI agents, combined with engineering design tools, can automate design tasks, improve design quality, reduce development time, and support engineers throughout the converter design process. The study will focus on creating efficient AI-driven workflows for power electronics engineering.

Behavioural competencies

• Result Orientation
• Operational Efficiency
• Fostering Cooperation
• Relationship Management
• Continuous Improvement
• Forward Thinking

Education

• You must be a university student, preferably in your final or second-to-last year of university course at Master's level.
• You must be able to prove that you will be enrolled at your university for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

• A good knowledge of English or French is required.
• Knowledge of another ESA Member State language is an asset.
• Knowledge and background in DC/DC power conversion, power converter control and FPGA programming is an asset.

Applicants must be eligible to access information, technology, and hardware which is subject to European or US export control and sanctions regulations.

Nationality

Applications are only considered from nationals of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.