Mechanical Engineer – Optical Systems (Miami, FL)

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and align optomechanical assemblies for the tracker platforms (optic mounts, frames, and alignment and adjustment features), owning them end to end: idea, CAD model, fabricated parts, assembled and working hardware
• Build hardware hands-on: assemble prototypes and test articles, fixture and align optics, work through fit-up issues at the bench, and turn what you learn into the next design revision fast
• Support test stand build, instrumentation, and commissioning: sensor mounting, wiring, calibration, DAQ integration, first light, and commissioning runs
• Troubleshoot electromechanical systems hands-on: wiring harnesses, sensors, motor drivers, encoders, microcontrollers, and the code talking to them; multimeter, oscilloscope, and Python debugger in the same afternoon, root-causing failures and driving corrective actions back into the design
• Work AI-native: drive the scripting, analysis, and documentation around your hardware with AI coding agents, and help make the team's test and simulation infrastructure agent-ready so campaigns can run overnight without a human babysitting them
• Build and revise CAD models in PTC Creo and SolidWorks; develop drawing packages with GD&T (ASME Y14.5) for fabrication, weldments, and assemblies, run tolerance stack-up analyses, and iterate against fabrication feedback
• Support structural analysis across tracker platforms: first-principles hand calculations, ANSYS FEA for detailed analysis, SAP2000 for code-checked wind-load combinations under ASCE 7-22
• Maintain subsystem-level BOMs and handle vendor follow-ups: slew drives, optical components, fasteners, sheet-metal fabrication
• Document analysis, build progress, and decisions on the team wiki: methodology pages, test plans, weekly status, design memos
• Present and defend your own work in design reviews, growing into ownership of larger subsystems over time
• Collaborate with controls, software, and supply chain teams, and with external engineering partners and vendors

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a closely related discipline
• 1+ years of hands-on build or design experience with real hardware; internships, co-ops, research labs, and major project-team roles count
• Strong fundamentals in math and physics: you reason from first principles, estimate before you compute, and check every result against known limits before you believe it; we probe this hard in interviews
• Working knowledge of a parametric CAD tool; the team uses PTC Creo and SolidWorks
• Working understanding of GD&T (ASME Y14.5) and tolerance stack-up analysis
• Familiarity with common fabrication processes (machining, sheet metal, welding, 3D printing) and design-for-manufacturability and assembly (DFM/DFA) principles
• Ability to back up simulation with first-principles hand calculations, and to run structured root-cause analysis when hardware misbehaves
• A track record of building real hardware: internships, capstone projects, FSAE, solar car teams, robotics, makerspaces, or independent builds all count; bench experience matters more than coursework grades
• The drive to own the full cycle yourself: take an idea to CAD, to built hardware, to test, learn from the mistakes, and iterate quickly rather than handing steps off to others
• Comfort with shop and bench work: hand tools, fixturing, assembly, and careful mechanical work on precision hardware
• Coursework or hands-on project experience in solid mechanics, statics, dynamics, and finite element analysis
• Comfort troubleshooting electromechanical systems hands-on: wiring harnesses, sensors, motor drivers, encoders, microcontrollers, and the firmware or software talking to them
• Fluency with AI coding agents (Claude Code, Codex, or similar) as a daily engineering tool: you use them to write most of your code, and you own every line they produce, reviewed, tested, and understood; expect us to ask you to show how you work with AI the same way we ask about your bench skills
• The instinct to make work agentic: you can decompose a workflow into steps an agent can execute, with clean interfaces, verifiable checkpoints, and guardrails, and you have the judgment to catch an agent when it is confidently wrong; engineers who can direct several agents at once will outrun those who type everything themselves, and we hire the former
• Strong written communication: you can document your work clearly enough that the next engineer can pick it up without asking you
• The temperament to hold your ideas loosely: designs evolve weekly and priorities shift on real evidence; engineers who can let go and update move fastest

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience assembling or aligning optical or precision mechanical hardware
• Experience with motion components and mechanisms: bearings, actuators, gear and slew drives, bolted and welded joint design
• Exposure to design validation and reliability practices: DFMEA, DVP&R, or environmental qualification testing
• Coursework or research in optical systems, photonics, heat transfer, or solar energy
• Hands-on experience with ANSYS, SAP2000, or another FEA package beyond classroom problem sets
• Python or MATLAB scripting: kinematics, data reduction, plotting
• Experience building agentic systems around real hardware or simulation: agents driving instruments, CAD, or simulation models through tool interfaces (MCP or similar), running parameter sweeps overnight, and summarizing the results; or any project where you gave an AI real levers and made its output trustworthy
• Lab or test-stand experience involving DAQ, instrumentation, or calibration
• Familiarity with controls fundamentals: open-loop versus closed-loop, sensor fusion concepts
• Interest in solar energy, heliostats, or large-scale renewable infrastructure

Additional Requirements

• Willingness to work extended hours and occasional weekends when builds, test campaigns, or program deadlines demand it
• Ability to lift up to 25 lbs unassisted, and to work safely with shop tools, ladders, and lifts with appropriate PPE
• Ability to work outdoors in Miami heat during assembly and field testing
• Occasional travel to fabricators, vendors, and field sites