Fusion Engineering Intern

Open Star Technologies Limited; Wellington; On-site; NZD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Open Star Technologies Limited in Wellington invites you to join our Special Projects team to tackle some of the hardest, most novel fusion engineering problems, from literature review through to a documented design. You will use CAD and Python, collaborating with physics and engineering teams to deliver innovative concepts for integration with the wider machine.

You will contribute to multidisciplinary projects, applying CAD, Python, and rigorous analysis to advance fusion technology and energy

Qualifications

• Experience using CAD software to develop design concepts.
• Working knowledge of Python for calculations, data analysis, or simulation.
• Ability to work through and solve highly multidisciplinary engineering problems.

Responsibilities

• Perform literature reviews on fusion engineering strategies and prior art.
• Develop and iterate CAD-based design concepts with space, materials, and performance constraints.
• Research material and fluid handling considerations relevant to extreme operating environments (e.g. radiation, cryogenic temperatures, vacuum).
• Use Python to support calculations, data analysis, or simulations.
• Deliver analysis of component performance and lifetime under realistic operating conditions.
• Collaborate with engineering and physics teams across Open Star to ensure your design integrates realistically with the wider machine.
• Document your design process and findings clearly for handover.

Skills

CAD software

Python

Multidisciplinary

Independent work

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree or higher

Job description

Support our Special Projects team to tackle some of the hardest, most novel engineering problems in our fusion programme

17th August, 2026

Equal Opportunity Statement: We are an equal opportunity employer and are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace.We believe that diversity strengthens our team and are dedicated to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment.

OpenStarTechnologies is on a mission to repeat the feats of Māui and capture the power of the Sun. By mastering fusion - the process that powers the stars - we can generate safe, clean, carbon-free, base-load electricity in a way that is economically scalable to the challenge of mitigating climate disaster and giving birth to the next industrial revolution. Our team is made up of talented engineers and physicists, based in Wellington, New Zealand.

JoinOpenStar'sSpecial Projects team to tackle some of the hardest, most novel engineering problems in our fusionprogramme, the ones that don't fit neatly into an existing subsystem. Recent projects have spanned tritium breeding blanket design and neutron shielding; you'll take a similarly open-ended problem from literature review through to a documented design.

Key Responsibilities

Research & Concept Development

• Perform literature reviews on relevant strategies, materials, and prior art for your assigned fusion engineering problem
• Develop and iterate design concepts using CAD software, integrating space, materials, and performance constraints
• Research material and fluid handling considerations relevant to extreme operating environments (e.g.radiation, cryogenic temperatures, vacuum)
• Use Python to support calculations, data analysis, or simulations
• Deliver analysis ofcomponentperformance and lifetime under realistic operating conditions
• Collaborate with engineering and physics teams acrossOpenStarto ensure your design integrates realistically with the wider machine
• Document your design process and findings clearly for handover

Analysis & Modelling

• Research material and fluid handling considerations relevant to extreme operating environments (e.g.radiation, cryogenic temperatures, vacuum)
• Use Python to support calculations, data analysis, or simulations
• Deliver analysis ofcomponentperformance and lifetime under realistic operating conditions

Collaboration

• Collaborate with engineering and physics teams acrossOpenStarto ensure your design integrates realistically with the wider machine
• Document your design process and findings clearly for handover

Key Relationships

• Senior Special Projects Engineer
• Engineering teams acrossOpenStar(Magnet, Plasma, Subsystems) - integration and requirements
• Materials/physics teams - technical input specific to your project

What We're Looking For

• Experience using CAD software to develop design concepts
• Working knowledge of Python for calculations, data analysis, or simulation
• Ability to work through and solve highly multidisciplinary engineering problems.
• Ability to take initiative, workindependently,and as part of a team.
• Great teammemberwith clear communication and collaboration skills.
• Innate desire to learn, innovate, and critique ideas including one's own.
• Currently enrolled in aBachelor'sdegree (or higher) in engineering, physics, materials science, or a related discipline

Join Us

This opportunity boils down to the chance to work on something truly meaningful. The scariest thing about the climate crisis today is that, forall ofour bluster and protest, there are very few of us whoactually havea chance to do meaningful work solving this problem. Carbon-free energy is an absolute necessity if we want to be able torecognisethe world that future generationsinherit. Please join us in making this a reality.