Aerothermal Engineer Intern

Canopy A&D • Littleton, CO

3d • $25 - $25

About The Position

Canopy A&D is built to accelerate the future of advanced materials for space, defense, and maritime systems. Canopy delivers specialized materials and components that carry customers from concept through sustainment. Canopy A&D’s advanced signal attenuation technologies and production-scale manufacturing accelerate the fielding of platforms that are faster, cooler, and quieter. About Canopy Aerospace & Defense Canopy Technologies is the R&D innovation engine powering Canopy Aerospace and Defense, accelerating the future of advanced materials for space, defense, and maritime systems. Canopy delivers specialized materials, components, and systems for re-entry vehicles, rockets, spacecraft, submarines, and more. Canopy A&D’s advanced signal attenuation technologies and production-scale manufacturing accelerate the fielding of platforms that are faster, cooler, and quieter. Canopy Technologies is focused on rapidly developing and deploying innovations in advanced materials such as hypersonic thermal protection systems, embedded high-temperature sensors, robotically applied ceramic coatings, and additive manufacturing of novel ceramics. Our adaptive approach ensures solutions evolve at the pace of shifting challenges, keeping our customers ahead of the curve. Canopy Technologies is seeking exceptional engineering students to join our team as Aerothermal Engineering Interns for Summer 2026. In this role, you will contribute to the modeling and simulation of aerothermal environments and thermal protection system (TPS) performance for spacecraft and hypersonic vehicles. You will work alongside experienced engineers to evaluate heating environments, analyze material response, and help develop software tools that support TPS design and mission planning. Interns on the aerothermal team work directly on problems related to re-entry heating, ablation, fluid flow, and thermal protection system performance. You will help build and run simulation models, analyze results, and compare predictions with experimental or flight data. This role is ideal for students who enjoy applying physics, numerical modeling, and software tools to solve complex aerospace problems — and who want to see their analysis directly inform real hardware design.

Requirements

• Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate degree program in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Materials Science, Physics, or a related field
• Experience applying engineering skills outside the classroom through laboratory work, research, engineering project teams, or personal projects
• Strong foundation in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics, and numerical methods
• Familiarity with CAD tools (SolidWorks, NX, Fusion, or similar)
• Programming experience in Python, MATLAB, or similar scientific computing languages
• Familiarity with numerical modeling, scientific computing, or simulation tools through coursework or projects
• Strong professional communication and technical writing skills
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative engineering environment with engineers, analysts, and technicians

Nice To Haves

• Coursework or project experience in computational fluid dynamics, aerothermodynamics, or hypersonic flows
• Exposure to CFD or multiphysics simulation tools (FUN3D, ANSYS Fluent, Star-CCM+, OpenFOAM, or similar)
• Experience with scientific computing, data processing, or numerical analysis
• Familiarity with TPS physics such as ablation, heat transfer, or high-temperature materials
• Experience working with experimental data or validating simulation models
• Participation in aerospace engineering competition teams or research groups

Responsibilities

• Assist with modeling and simulation of aerothermal environments for spacecraft and hypersonic systems
• Support trade studies evaluating thermal protection system materials and stackups under different heating environments
• Create and run CFD or thermal simulations under guidance from senior engineers
• Help generate and refine computational meshes for aerothermal simulations
• Post-process simulation data to extract quantities such as heat flux, pressure, and aerodynamic loads
• Develop scripts and software tools to automate analysis workflows and data processing
• Compare simulation predictions with experimental test data or flight measurements
• Contribute to research and development efforts for new thermal protection materials and vehicle architectures
• Collaborate with TPS design, manufacturing, and test teams to translate simulation results into engineering decisions
• Document modeling methods and results for internal technical reviews

Benefits

• Company paid employee medical, dental and vision insurance.
• Retirement plan participation (eligibility required), paid sick leave, paid vacation, paid holidays and discretionary bonuses.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern