Our team and mission

The Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) and Harness Section supports space projects in all application domains, i.e. Science, Earth Observation, Human Spaceflight and Robotic Exploration, Navigation, Telecommunications and Space Transportation.

Essential to all electrical equipment and systems is their ability to function correctly in their electromagnetic environment, constituted of intentional and unintentional internal and external sources.

Within the Section, we operate our own anechoic chamber for conducted and radiated EMC testing, complemented by several facilities for DC and AC magnetic tests. In particular, we support projects on measurements for demanding, non-standard requirements and their verification, pre-compliance measurements and tests on breadboards or development models. Moreover, we perform troubleshooting activities and provide customised tests for specific project needs.
In addition to laboratory testing, we perform analytical and numerical analysis. Various electromagnetic modelling and circuit simulation tools are available to the Section and are used to derive requirements, predict performances, analyse test results, etc.

In addition, we are responsible for research and development (R&D) activities on EMC and harnesses for space applications.
Our diverse team consists of dedicated experts in the EMC and harness domain.

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

Field(s) of activity/research for the traineeship

To guarantee the proper performance of spacecraft and missions, it is essential to ensure electromagnetic compatibility to avoid causing interference with on-board communication systems, scientific payload or critical systems. The interconnecting cables of these systems play an important role in electromagnetic compatibility since they can either radiate or receive spurious emissions. Considering the spurious emissions radiated by the cables during the design phase and measuring the actual emission in a representative setup is therefore an essential step in the overall verification of a satellite or spacecraft.
In this regard, establishing electromagnetic models and tools is useful in order to predict cable emissions, solve design problems in the early stages and confirm the representativeness of the test harness used during the verification. Evaluating analytical models and hands-on measurements in lab studies can help to obtain representative time- and frequency-domain data considering different possible configurations.

The overall objective of the activities is to investigate novel techniques to characterise and model electromagnetic emissions from the harness, e. g. multichannel time-domain methods.

You will, as a Young Graduate Trainee, contribute to specific activities such as:

1. characterising the electromagnetic emissions in the time and frequency domain, e. g. by applying an existing multichannel measurement setup. Such a setup would use multitone signals generated by arbitrary waveform generators as the excitation source. Various existing probes and antennas can be used to characterise the electromagnetic field emissions and provide data to circuit and/or electromagnetic simulation models. 
2. creating circuit and/or electromagnetic models of the harness to compute the electromagnetic field using numerical simulation tools. These results with multiple outputs should be compared to the experimental data.
3. validating simplified analytical models to be used as guidelines for design. The analytical expressions considering distances, harness parameters, different sources, etc. should be derived using the data obtained from the experimental data and the electromagnetic simulations.
4. validating the circuit and/or electromagnetic models with test cases generating data different to that used to create the models.

The measurements will be taken as a hands-on activity within the state-of-the-art EMC Laboratory at the European Space Agency.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation

Operational Efficiency

Fostering Cooperation

Relationship Management

Continuous Improvement

Forward Thinking

Education

You should have just completed, or be in the final year of your Master’ s degree in physics or electrical engineering with a specialisation in electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), analogue electronics, high-frequency technology, radio-frequency systems, telecommunication systems or related areas.

Additional requirements

You should have good interpersonal and communication skills and should be able to work in a multicultural environment, both independently and as part of a team.

• Hands-on experience of testing in a lab and related test equipment will be an asset.
• Practical experience with electrical/electronic circuit simulations and/or electromagnetic modelling will be an asset.

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

During the interview, your motivation and overall professional career goals will also be explored.