Job Description:

AMA is seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Entry Systems Modeling summer 2025 intern to join our team in Moffett Field, CA supporting NASA on the Aircraft Systems and Spaceflight Engineering Support Services (ASSESS) contract at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). Work will be in support of the Thermal Protection Materials branch, part of the Entry Systems and Technology Division at NASA ARC. The successful candidate will work, on-site, on a short term (10 weeks; from June 2nd until August 8th, 2025) modeling project in a research topic of relevance to the Entry Systems Modeling project.

About the Project:

NASA’s Entry Systems Modeling (ESM) project develops new approaches to improve predictions of the spacecraft aerothermal entry environment and to simulate the response of the thermal protection system to that environment. These predictions are made using complex software that are validated against test data. As software capabilities improve, uncertainties in simulation predictions are reduced, which translates to a risk reduction for missions, reduced entry vehicle mass, and increased landing precision. For certain classes of missions, like sample return from Mars, advanced entry system modeling software is an enabling technology.

In particular, this internship will be supporting the materials modeling technical area. The goal for this technical area is to develop and validate a high-fidelity modeling capability to better understand how heat shield materials physically and chemically deteriorate while traveling through an atmosphere. This helps to reduce uncertainty when designing thermal protection systems for future missions.

The internship project will contribute to the development of numerical methods and GPU acceleration techniques for the Porous Microstructure Analysis (PuMA) software, a NASA open-source materials modeling tool developed under the ESM project. PuMA is a computational framework designed for simulating and analyzing the microstructure of porous thermal protection materials. It is used to calculate effective material properties such as permeability, thermal conductivity, and mechanical strength using high-resolution 3D datasets obtained from X-ray micro-tomography.

Pay for this position is $29.50/hr -$33.50/hr, depending on education.

Responsibilities:

• Extend existing PuMA solvers for GPU execution to enhance performance and scalability.

• Benchmark and validate the accuracy and performance of new methods using analytical solutions and real-world material datasets.

• Collaborate with the PuMA development team to integrate and document new features.

• Regular reporting (verbal and/or written) to research mentor on progress of project.

• Present final results to division at completion of project.

Desired Skills:

• Strong background in numerical methods and scientific computing.

• Proficiency in programming languages such as C and Python.

• Experience with GPU programming, parallel programming and High-Performance Computing (HPC) is a plus.

Required Qualifications:

• Currently pursuing a graduate degree (M.S or PhD) in Computer Science; Mechanical or Aerospace Engineering; Applied Mathematics; or a related field, at an accredited university.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.

• Expected to work in person at NASA Ames Research Center for the entire duration of the internship.

• Role requires candidates to be either US Citizens, Permanent Residents or F-1 visas: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/oiir-designated-country-list-9-13-2024.pdf?emrc=ace877

Analytical Mechanics Associates (AMA) is proud of our customer relationships, our diverse and dynamic work environment, and our employees' career satisfaction. AMA is a small business with a wide reach; headquartered in Hampton, VA, AMA has operations in Greenbelt, MD; Huntsville, AL; Dallas and Houston, TX; Denver, CO; Mountain View, CA; and Edwards Air Force Base, CA. With over 60 years of experience, AMA specializes in aerospace engineering, science, analytics, information technology, and visualization solutions. AMA combines the best of engineering, science, and mathematics capabilities with the latest in information technologies, visualization, and multimedia to build creative solutions. We offer competitive salaries and a substantial benefits package, including but not limited to paid personal and federally recognized holiday leave, salary deferrals into a 401(k)-matching plan with immediate vesting, tuition reimbursement, short/long term disability plans, and a variety of medical, dental, and vision insurance options.

AMA is committed to the professional growth of every employee, understanding that the successes of our employees drive our success. We provide a work environment that is engaging, collaborative, and supportive. To learn more about our company, please visit our website at www.ama-inc.com/careers and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.

AMA is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any applicant for employment or employee because of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic prohibited under federal, state, or local laws.

Salary : $30 - $34