Optics Intern: Space/Defense Alignment & Field Trials

Overview Energy; Ashburn (GA); On-site; USD 41,000 - 55,000; Part time

Job summary

Overview Energy is seeking an Optics Intern to assist with the design and construction of our ground beacon, from optical bench to field test site, in Northern Virginia. You will align the laser, characterize output, and co-align with the telescope while learning from our optics and hardware engineers.

This paid, part-time internship runs September 2026 through March 2027 at ~10 hours per week on-site, with mentorship and a deliverable tied to a DoW program; interns are not eligible for

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a bachelor's or master's program in optics, optical engineering, physics, or a closely related field.
• Coursework or lab experience with optical alignment: mounts, mirrors, lenses, and beam paths.
• Willingness to complete laser safety training and follow protocol without exception.
• Careful documentation habits - alignment work is only useful if it's repeatable by someone else.
• Able to commit approximately 10 hours per week from September 2026 through March 2027, on-site in Northern Virginia

Responsibilities

• Align the beacon laser within its emitter and verify pointing outside the emitter aperture.
• Characterize laser output - power, beam profile, divergence, and pointing stability - and document the results.
• Co-align the beacon laser with the observational telescope and verify boresight.
• Design a repeatable field alignment procedure that corrects misalignment introduced during transport and installation at the DoW site.
• Write that procedure so a non-optics operator can execute it, then validate it hands-on before delivery.
• Maintain clean alignment and characterization records, and feed findings back to the engineering team

Skills

Optics alignment

Documentation

Laser safety training

On-site presence

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Optics/Optical Engineering/Physics

Tools

Beam profilers

Power meters

Autocollimators

Shear plates

Zemax OpticStudio

Quadoa

Code V

Job description

Overview Energy is seeking an Optics Intern to assist with the design and construction of our ground beacon, from optical bench to field test site, in Northern Virginia. You will align the laser, characterize output, and co-align with the telescope while learning from our optics and hardware engineers.

This paid, part-time internship runs September 2026 through March 2027 at ~10 hours per week on-site, with mentorship and a deliverable tied to a DoW program; interns are not eligible for