About the role#
This internship supports research into autonomous operations and predictive maintenance for mechanical equipment. You will work on systems designed for future Lunar and Martian habitats, alongside applications for terrestrial smart-building management. You will be part of a team working in the SHARP Lab at NASA Ames, which houses a hardware-in-the-loop habitat analog testbed featuring an inverter-driven air-to-water heat pump and a closed hydronic loop. The goal is to bridge physical thermodynamics with digital simulation environments.
What you'll do#
- Build and validate physics-based digital twins.
- Develop simulated fault environments.
- Create state-space models for thermal and fluid dynamics.
- Translate physical heat-transfer equations into Python simulation architectures.
- Ensure simulated data reflects real-world hardware behavior to train machine learning models.
- Support investigations into autonomous operations and predictive maintenance of mechanical equipment.
What you'll need#
- Enrollment as an undergraduate (Sophomore, Junior, or Senior), graduate student, or post-doctoral researcher.
- Academic background in Mechanical, Computer, Civil, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, or Mathematics.
- Understanding of physical thermodynamics.
- Familiarity with state-space modeling and thermal or fluid dynamics.
- Knowledge of heat-transfer equations.
- Proficiency in Python.
- US citizenship.
Location & details#
- Location: Moffett Field, California.
- Term: Summer 2027 (June 7, 2027 to August 13, 2027).
- Work modality: On-site.
- This position is full-time and unpaid.
About NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is a government agency founded in 1958. It conducts research and development in aeronautics, space exploration, and science. The organization operates from various locations across the United States, including its headquarters in Washington, DC. With over 53,000 employees, it manages missions involving rockets, spacecraft, and Earth observation.
How to get in at NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
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