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AM-01

Aerostructures Engineer

Aerodynamics and structures

Overview

This role covers the aerodynamic and structural design, analysis and validation of unmanned aircraft, including aerodynamic assessment, load definition, composite airframe design and structural testing. The engineer works closely with the founders and other engineering disciplines, combining analytical work with hands-on development and testing.

Core responsibilities

  • Carry out aerodynamic analysis of airframes using panel and vortex-lattice methods (XFLR5/Flow5, OpenVSP) and CFD, derive aerodynamic loads for structural design, and prepare clean outer-surface CAD for the analysis.
  • Design composite airframe structures, including material selection, laminate and lay-up design, composite tailoring, and primary structures such as spars, ribs, frames and bulkheads, together with joints and inserts.
  • Perform analytical calculations, including classical laminate theory, and FEA for composite structures, covering strength, buckling, vibration (including modal analysis), fatigue and impact.
  • Support composite manufacturing partners in the review of moulds and tooling, define coupon tests, prepare ply templates, and check manufactured parts against the design.
  • Plan structural tests, including load cases, fixtures and instrumentation, and correlate test results with analysis.
  • Support aircraft assembly, ground and flight testing; analyse flight logs with the flight software engineer to assess aerodynamic and structural behaviour, and document designs, tests and decisions.

Qualifications

Essential

  • B.E./B.Tech in Aerospace Engineering (preferred) or Mechanical Engineering.
  • 0-2 years of experience.
  • Strong fundamentals in strength of materials, aircraft structures and aerodynamics.
  • Proficiency in 3D CAD software, preferably SolidWorks and CATIA.
  • Exposure to FEA (ANSYS, Abaqus/SIMULIA, MSC Nastran/Patran, HyperMesh/OptiStruct or equivalent) or CFD (ANSYS Fluent, STAR-CCM+, OpenFOAM or equivalent).
  • Knowledge of composite materials, including classical laminate theory.

Preferred

  • Experience of designing and building an aircraft for SAE Aero Design, Aerothon or a similar competition.
  • Hands-on experience of composite layup and vacuum bagging.
  • Familiarity with XFLR5, Flow5, OpenVSP or AVL.
  • Knowledge of coupon testing to ASTM methods.
  • Knowledge of programming in Python or MATLAB for analysis and automation.