Mechanical Engineer, Robotics Hardware - Part-Time Internship (Robotics)

Location: Irvine, California, United States; on-site

Salary: $35–$45 per hour

Company

hirify.global develops risk-aware, reliable AI systems and field-ready robotics solutions for complex real-world environments.

What you will do

• Design and model mechanical structures, external enclosures, compute frames, chassis, sensor mounts, and payload interfaces.
• Develop ingress-protection and thermal-management solutions using seals, membranes, coatings, fans, heat sinks, conductive paths, and airflow guides.
• Create detailed SolidWorks assemblies, run FEA and thermal simulations, and manage mass, volume, and thermal budgets.
• Prototype, test, and validate hardware through shock, vibration, thermal, ingress, and sensor-alignment testing.
• Prepare mechanical drawings, GD&T annotations, bills of materials, assembly instructions, and QA documentation.
• Support vendors, contract manufacturers, payload integration, production scaling, mechanical debugging, and field servicing.

Requirements

• Current student pursuing a B.S., M.S., or Ph.D. in Robotics, Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or a related field.
• Proficiency with SolidWorks or an equivalent mechanical CAD platform.
• Familiarity with FEA and thermal modeling tools.
• Experience designing hardware for vibration, shock, thermal cycling, and environmental exposure.
• Knowledge of CNC, sheet metal, additive manufacturing, assembly workflows, and design-for-manufacturing principles.
• Experience integrating mechanical systems with compute, sensors, power electronics, and other hardware domains.

Nice to have

• Experience taking prototypes into large-scale production or developing systems for harsh field environments.
• Experience with deployed robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, or ruggedized robots.
• Systems-level fluency across mechanical, electrical, and software systems.
• Experience designing for IP ratings, MIL-STD, or equivalent ruggedness standards.

Culture & Benefits

• Work with a small, fast-moving hardware team focused on capability, reliability, and scalability.
• Collaborate with mechanical, electrical, compute, and systems engineers.
• Contribute to robotics solutions deployed in real-world environments.
• Inclusive workplace committed to merit-based evaluation and equal opportunity.