Spaceflight Structural Engineer II – FEA & Flight

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory; United States; On-site; USD 115,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, seeks a Structural Systems Engineer to design, analyze, and test flight mechanical structures for spacecraft and payloads. You will build FE models, perform stress and dynamic analyses, and contribute to hardware development from concept to test.

You will work within the Mechanical Engineering, Integration, and Test Section, collaborating across disciplines, presenting results at reviews, and supporting static and dynamic test campaigns as

Qualifications

• BS in Mechanical Engineering or related field with 3+ years experience; or MS with 1+ year or PhD.
• Experience in structural engineering, analysis, and verification of flight structures (spacecraft or instruments), composite structures, mechanisms, and/or opto-mechanical assemblies.
• Experience in MSC.Nastran, NX-Nastran, FEMAP, Abaqus, MSC.ADAMS or LS-DYNA.
• General knowledge of industry and/or academic practices and standards related to structural mechanics, finite element analysis, and structural verification testing.

Responsibilities

• Perform structural design and analysis to ensure the structural integrity of subsystem and system-level hardware and the associated support structures.
• Perform structural analysis utilizing classical solutions and finite element analysis (FEA) method for flight projects and/or technology tasks and/or proposal developments.
• Perform detailed stress/structural analysis, dynamic analysis, and pre-test analysis.
• Build finite element models from scratch, using hand calculations when appropriate, to determine critical areas in structure and determine efficient and adequate approaches for analysis independently.
• Contribute to the design process of mechanical assemblies from engineering requirements to engineering drawings including suggestions and feedback on areas of concern based on analysis, mechanical intuition, and engineering judgement.
• Support and present analysis results at team, line management, and technical reviews.
• Support and conduct static and dynamic tests and develop test reports.
• Perform tasks under the direction of the group supervisor, project management, and project technical leads, work independently and within a team environment, and collaborate on tasks that span a spectrum of disciplines.

Skills

Structural engineering

Finite element analysis

Flight structures experience

Technical communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering

Master's degree or PhD in related field

Tools

MSC.Nastran

NX-Nastran

FEMAP

Abaqus

LS-DYNA

Job description

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, seeks a Structural Systems Engineer to design, analyze, and test flight mechanical structures for spacecraft and payloads. You will build FE models, perform stress and dynamic analyses, and contribute to hardware development from concept to test.

You will work within the Mechanical Engineering, Integration, and Test Section, collaborating across disciplines, presenting results at reviews, and supporting static and dynamic test campaigns as