Our team and mission

The Structures, Mechanisms and Materials Division is responsible for all aspects related to all spacecraft structures, mechanisms (including tribology and pyrotechnic devices), materials (including related manufacturing and assembly processes, space environmental effects, cleanliness and contamination control) and associated computational and laboratory facilities.

In particular, the Division is in charge of:

• performing design, development and verification of spacecraft structures, mechanisms, materials and manufacturing processes by means of state-of-the-art expertise, tools and facilities;
• providing support to all ESA Projects including assisting with materials, structures, mechanisms, systems and sub-systems failure investigations;
• defining, coordinating, and executing technology development activities in the field of expertise;
• establishing and managing the necessary computing and internal/external laboratory facilities in conjunction with the TEC infrastructure function;
• supporting the establishment and implementation of standards for the development, qualification and procurement of structures, mechanisms and space grade materials, and manufacturing processes;
• supporting the Product Assurance and Safety Managers in the qualification and approval of all materials, mechanical parts, associated manufacturing processes, including cleanliness and contamination control aspects, for all ESA Projects/Programmes. For the provision of this support, TEC-MS Part Material Process (PMP) experts report functionally to the Product Assurance and Safety Managers;
• supporting the System Engineering Managers in the selection, design and characterisation of all materials and processes and in the selection, design, characterisation and qualification of all structures and mechanisms for all ESA Projects/Programmes.

The Materials and Processes Section TEC-MSP ensures:

• materials and processes used for assembly of spacecrafts and launchers are fit for purpose over the mission life-time;
• the qualification for space flight of all advanced metallic and non-metallic materials, structural ceramics and glasses as well as all related manufacturing and surface treatment processes for all ESA spacecraft and launchers Programme;
• the development of revolutionary materials and innovative manufacturing technologies both internally and in cooperation with other space agencies and organisations;
• the failure investigation of materials and processes under performing and impacting ESA space missions;
• the development, certification and support of new European industrial capabilities, manufacturing processes and manpower skills training related to space applications of materials and components;
• the establishment and implementation of requirements and standards for the development and the procurement of space grade materials and manufacturing processes;
• the development, maintenance and improvement of the European Space Materials Database, storing all relevant data generated for materials and processes intended for Space use.

Candidates interested are encouraged to visit the ESA website: http://www.esa.int  

Field(s) of activity for the internship

Topic of the internship: Performance modelling, destructive and non-destructive characterisation of parts produced by advanced manufacturing technologies (e.g. additive or composite manufacturing), and correlation of predictions with experimental performance

The European Space Agency has recently proposed the ESA Advanced Manufacturing Cross-Cutting Initiative, which captures the opportunity of adopting revolutionary manufacturing capabilities, advanced materials and associated processes and creates sustainable competitive advantage for the European Space Industry in the global market.

The current space missions are often limited in their performances and scientific achievements by the traditional manufacturing processes/concepts. Though Advanced Manufacturing technologies are readily available in the current European industrial landscape, these can be adopted for next generation space hardware manufacturing. This will enable new and highly innovative spacecraft and launchers designs, with significantly reduced manufacturing constraints (including costs and lead-time) and tremendous performance improvement.
Through this initiative, the Agency has identified a number of highly innovative materials and associated manufacturing processes which can be span-in and which will be matured to a space qualification level. In particular the following materials and processes are currently targeted:

1. Additive Manufacturing: Process/structure/property performance evaluation and model verification through mechanical and µ-mechanical characterisation;
2. Friction Stir Welding, Solid State Joining Technologies for hybrid (metallic/Non-metallic) joining;
3. Laser Shot Peening for structural integrity enhancement;
4. Advanced composite materials (polymers, metal and ceramic matrix composites) and their performance characterisation and prediction in extreme environment;
5. Advanced surface engineering for thermal and corrosion management;
6. Solder joint reliability (mechanical an thermal fatigue) for high/low temperature electronics;
7. Performance evaluation and Whisker growth behaviour of Pb-free solder alternatives;
8. Integrated Computational Materials Engineering - model development and validation.

You will use the world leading facilities of the ESA/ESTEC Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory, in order to characterise all the above advanced materials and manufacturing processes and perform detailed materials investigations aiming for process/structure/property evaluation and modelling, related to advanced manufacturing processes. This includes the use of a variety of different laboratory methods such as mechanical and µ-mechanical testing, optical microscopy, SEM-EDX/EBSD, X-ray tomography, and XRD. Your work will be integrated in a team which will give guidance for project applications for future missions.

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

For more information, please refer to ESA Core Behavioural Competencies guidebook

Education

You must be a university student, preferably studying at master’s level. In addition, you must be able to prove that you will be enrolled at your University for the entire duration of the internship.

Additional requirements

The working languages of the Agency are English and French. A good knowledge of one of these is required. Knowledge of another ESA Member State language is an asset.

During the interview, your motivation for applying to this role will be explored.

You should also have knowledge and background in materials science and engineering covering metallic, ceramic, or polymeric materials.

It is an asset to have an understanding of computational materials engineering, fracture mechanics and diagnostic techniques such as optical microscopy, electron microscopy and mechanical testing.