SPACE SYSTEMS

Rocket Lab’s Space Systems team is responsible for every satellite and satellite component made by Rocket Lab: from complete satellites destined for missions to the Moon and Mars, to the individual components and subsystems that make up a satellite like solar panels, flight software, reaction wheels and star trackers, separation systems, radios, and more. Our Space Systems team is made up of engineers, technicians, and designers who design, create, and put together our own satellites for missions across the commercial, government, and defense sectors, or who build and assemble satellite hardware and software that supports other satellite missions. 

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS ENGINEER II

As a Structural Analysis Engineer II at Rocket Lab’s Silver Spring, Maryland location, you will analyze aerospace structures and mechanisms in support of product design and improvements. You’ll create structural test requirements and evaluate test results, as well as create product finite element models for use by customers.

WHAT YOU’LL GET TO DO:

• Collaborate with design engineers to validate product designs and improvements via detailed structural analysis.
• Create test-correlated structural and dynamic models of aerospace mechanisms.
• Help develop product vibration, shock and strength test requirements tailored around industry standards such as SMC-S-016 and NASA GEVS.
• Make technical recommendations based on engineering judgment and interpretation of analysis results.
• Perform normal modes analysis with classical hand calculations and finite element analysis.
• Mentor and train other engineers.
• Develop and validate product finite element models for internal and external use.
• Support anomaly and failure analysis of space vehicles, mechanisms and payloads.

YOU’LL BRING THESE QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical or aerospace engineering; or other engineering discipline
• 2 years of finite element analysis (FEA) experience
• Proficiency with Simcenter Nastran and Femap software
• Experience with vibration, shock or acoustic analysis
• Experience with aerospace industry structural analysis standards

THESE QUALIFICATIONS WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE:

• Master's or PhD in mechanical or aerospace engineering; or other engineering discipline
• SolidWorks Simulation experience
• Experience analyzing mechanisms
• Experience analyzing non-metallic materials
• Proficiency with fatigue analysis and fracture mechanics
• Proficiency with vibration and shock analysis techniques
• Experience modelling free-body dynamic events
• Experience using implicit and explicit non-linear solvers
• Thermal analysis experience

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: 

• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to focus.
• Regularly required to sit, use hands and fingers, operate computer keyboard and controls, and communicate verbally and in writing. 
• Must be physically able to commute to buildings
• Occasional exposure to dust, fumes and moderate levels of noise.