Mechanical Engineering, Zipline
Intern, Summer 2025
The starting cash range for this role is $38 - 42 / hour. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role.
3-5 days a week in office
Transforming the way goods move
Open for applications
Transforming the way goods move
1001+ employees
Open for applications
The starting cash range for this role is $38 - 42 / hour. Please note that this is a target, starting cash range for a candidate who meets the minimum qualifications for this role.
3-5 days a week in office
1001+ employees
Company mission
To open up access to emergency medical care to everyone in the world.
Role
Who you are
- Does aggressively tackling cross disciplinary projects from early conceptual stages through to full field deployment sound like the way you want to spend your time
- Do you eliminate circular discussions by running a test or use your hands-on skills to build a prototype instead of scheduling another meeting
- If you thrive working with a fast-paced and driven team that focuses on only the most important goals, eliminates blockers, and executes with extreme practicality, keep reading!
- The most critical skill we’ve seen in prior entry-level candidates is robust experience designing and actually building multiple mechanical systems outside of the classroom. This is the component of your application we’re most excited about, so please ensure that you’ve included this work in your application. Examples of things previous interns have built include submarines, solar cars in the Australian outback, electric boats and airplanes, rockets, etc
- You must have completed at least the second year of your Undergraduate studies. Masters and PhD students are also eligible
- You’ll bring solid mechanical engineering fundamentals for sizing parts and integrating into design with minimal help
- You’ll bring automation experience from working with actuators and Raspberry Pi’s (or similar)
- You’re well versed in CAD, and have designed multiple projects with it
- You’ve worked on complex projects that require mechanical, electrical, and software design
- You're quick to change direction when you realize you’ve made a mistake OR could achieve the same goal in a simpler way
- You bias to action and communicate consistently with your team to ensure everyone is focused on meeting the project goals on time
- You're excited to build on your design skills with brainstorms, design reviews, and failure mode analysis
- You can anticipate, plan and schedule your own work
- You bring a “can do” attitude, because we have a lot of vital work to get done and only work with people who are invested in solving critical problems
What the job involves
- We will host our Summer 2025 interns from May to August
- At Zipline, your work is intended for the field, where customers are counting on it every day, so there is no time for ambiguous communication or unrealistic expectations
- We need dedicated engineers to burn down risk and improve reliability in our system like their life depends on it, because others' lives do
- Mechanical interns can own a variety of big problems integral to our system! You can expect to:
- Mechanical Engineers at Zipline go deep in their area of ownership, become experts in the problem domain, define requirements for their systems, rapidly develop creative and simple solutions, and prove with testing that their system meets the rigors and edge-cases of real-world deployment
- Take product and engineering requirements to develop concepts and evaluate tradeoffs for each
- We are composed of teams that are responsible for everything from the earliest designs of a new system, to creating test and validation strategies, root-causing issues with existing systems, and much more
- Use 2D and 3D CAD tools to design parts and assemblies based on sound engineering principles
- Use resources creatively to design, build, and test prototypes to gather quick learnings
- Work cross-functionally with other Zipline teams and suppliers to review designs
- Design, build, and run electro-mechanical testers that you develop to prove reliability of critical components
- Root cause failures and develop a test to replicate the failure mode
- Document your work so that others can easily understand key decisions made
- Examples of previous intern projects included:
- Designing, building, testing, and running:
- A flexible blind-mate ducting connection between an aircraft and a ground-based cooling station, allowing for aircraft battery temperature regulation during charging and pre-flight preparation
- A service strategy for removing a docked aircraft from a ground station using a custom designed hand cart, complete with an ergonomic study for a range of technician heights and strengths
- A communications tower with integrated antennas and lightning protection meant to relay vital telemetry information from the drone to the operators during flight
- A wing cycle tester to identify and eliminate risk for each wing iteration and prove reliability with cycles
- Our internships are full-time positions, in-person at our South San Francisco office. We will host our Summer 2025 interns from May to August
Our take
Zipline is transforming the way goods move by creating the first logistics system that serves all humans equally via a drone delivery service. As the first emergency drone logistics operation, Zipline is fundamentally changing how we transport emergency medical supplies and has expanded into commercial deliveries. It's partnered with several major companies, including Walmart.
Zipline has an edge over potential future competitors as the company has thousands of hours and over 35 million miles of flight to prove the system is safe and effective. It’s also one of the first companies to receive a full commercial operating certificate, putting Zipline in a strong position to continuously branch out to other markets.
The unicorn company operates globally and has signed its first government contract with Rwanda to provide up to 2 million drone deliveries by 2029. It is also aiming to start commercial deliveries to individual households in the near future. With big companies such as Amazon and Walmart examining “instant” delivery options, Zipline has a proven track record and the equipment and logistics in place to provide such services. 2023 funding pushed Zipline's valuation to a staggering $4.2 billion, indicating a bright future.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
Company
Funding (last 2 of 8 rounds)
Apr 2023
$330m
SERIES F
Jul 2021
$250m
SERIES E
Total funding: $813.7m
Company benefits
- Generous parental leave
- Generous vacation policy
- Monthly wellness stipend
- Monthly team events
- Healthcare, vision, and dental
- Healthy, delicious meals and snacks
- Dog-friendly offices
Company values
- Customer obsession - The standard of care
- Ownership - Getting the job done
- Transparency - Breeds trust
- Continuous improvement - Tackling hard problems
- Serve Your Species - Empowering one another
Company HQ
South San Francisco, CA
Articles
Leadership
Having studied Economics and Biotechnology at Harvard, they worked for almost 11 months as a self-employed rock climber. They combined their academic and practical experience to co-found Zipline in July 2011.
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