---
title: 'Mechanical Engineering Internship - Winter/Spring 2027 at Pyka'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineering-internship-winter-spring-2027-pyka-alameda-y5ktdhzk2wkv'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-11-04'
---

# Mechanical Engineering Internship - Winter/Spring 2027 at Pyka

- **Company:** Pyka
- **Location:** Alameda, CA
- **Employment:** internship
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-09
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-11-04
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/pyka/2702593a-7482-4d2b-93f3-ef97e2cf7df7

## Job description

## About Pyka

Pyka’s goal is to provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation. To get there, we’re taking a different approach than most. We're applying our technologies to every industry where autonomous electric aircraft can be useful, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs. In doing so, we're building game-changing products manufactured at scale, while perfecting the safety, reliability, and capabilities of our autonomy engine and electric propulsion systems. We design, develop and manufacture an ecosystem of technologies including proprietary flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes. Today, we supply autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection to real-world customers across four separate continents and have secured industry-first regulatory approvals from the FAA. Our cargo aircraft enables remote connectivity, enhances express delivery networks, and ensures fast and reliable shipping of critical supplies to areas in need. Our crop protection aircraft offers agricultural services providers and farmers an autonomous tool to make aerial application safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Both vehicles are highly economical to operate, easy to deploy, and significantly reduce CO2 emissions in their respective industries. What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day.

## Role Overview

The Dropship Mechanical Team is looking for curious, driven, and hands-on mechanical engineering students who want to learn from a team of engineers, builders, and innovators redefining what’s possible in aviation. As a Mechanical Engineering Intern at Pyka, you’ll be embedded directly with the Mechanical Engineering team — contributing to real aircraft hardware, supporting the entire design cycle, and learning firsthand how we take complex electromechanical systems from concept to field deployment. You’ll gain real-world experience working on active projects, collaborating across engineering, manufacturing, and testing teams, and seeing how hardware, software, and operations all come together to bring our autonomous electric aircraft to life.

## Why This Internship Is Unique

Pyka’s Mechanical Engineering team handles the same volume of hardware work as teams 10x the size — which means you’ll see and touch more types of parts, subsystems, tools, and tests in one summer than many interns get in several years. This is a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment where you’ll have real ownership and real impact.

## What you’ll work on

- Support the design, prototyping, testing, and iteration of mechanical components and assemblies
- Assist in validating environmental and performance requirements for aircraft parts and materials
- Help investigate, root-cause, and develop solutions for hardware issues discovered during flight testing or field operations
- Create or update 3D CAD models, drawings, and documentation under the guidance of Mechanical Engineers
- Collaborate with Manufacturing Engineers on improving build processes, tooling, and manufacturability
- Conduct hands-on testing, research, or analysis to support project milestones
- Present findings or project outcomes at the end of your internship

Required Qualifications

- Students currently pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or a related field
- A genuine interest in electric aviation, robotics, mechanical design, or sustainability
- Strong problem-solving skills, curiosity, and willingness to dive into complex technical challenges
- Comfort getting hands-on in the shop — building, testing, iterating
- Familiarity with 3D CAD (SolidWorks, NX, Inventor, or similar)
- Bonus: exposure to FEA, composite materials, 3D printing, CNC machining, or rapid prototyping
- Preferred graduation window: Winter 2026 – Spring 2028.
- We understand that candidates bring different strengths and experiences, and you don’t need to meet every qualification to be considered. If this role excites you, we’d love to learn more about you. You may be a great fit even if your background doesn’t align perfectly with the list

## Why You’ll Love It Here

- Work on actual flight-critical hardware (not hypothetical student projects)
- Join a small, passionate team building something world-changing
- Learn directly from senior engineers with deep aerospace, robotics, and manufacturing experience
- Daily exposure to cutting-edge electromechanical systems — including carbon-fiber airframes, electric propulsion, avionics, and autonomy
- Experience the full lifecycle of hardware development at a rapidly scaling aerospace startup

## Compensation and Benefits

- $35-$40/hr pay. Compensation will vary depending on location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Hourly wage ranges are subject to change.
- Employer-sponsored health, dental and vision insurance
- Paid holidays, generous PTO, and additional unpaid time off
- Voluntary short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance
- Pre-tax commuter benefits
- Free catered lunch and plenty of snacks
- Visa sponsorship

Export Control Requirements This position requires access to technology, software and other information that is subject to governmental access control restrictions, due to export controls.  Employment in this position is conditioned on the continued availability of government authorization to authorize release of such items, to the extent required, including without limitation an export license, or other documentation required to establish authorization to receive access to such items. Company may delay commencement of employment, rescind an offer of employment, terminate employment, and/or may modify job responsibilities, compensation, benefits, and/or access to Company facilities and information systems, as Company deems appropriate, in order to ensure compliance with applicable government access control restrictions.

-- We do not work with external recruiters; if you are an external recruiter, please do not reach out.

## About Pyka

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Pyka designs, develops, and manufactures autonomous electric aircraft for cargo transport and crop protection.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series B)
- **Headquarters**: Alameda, California, USA
- **Founded**: 2017
- **Founders**: Michael Norcia (Co-Founder, CEO), Chuma Ogunwole (Co-Founder, COO), Nathan White (Co-Founder, Head of Flight Operations)

## Core Business
- Primary industry: Autonomous electric aviation, aerospace, agriculture, defense & logistics
- Target customers: B2B, government (AFWERX, Department of Defense), agricultural service providers, commercial cargo operators
- Mission or purpose statement: To provide society with a new form of safe, clean, and cost-effective transportation enabled by autonomous electric aviation, starting with the highest value and most dangerous jobs.

## Products & Services
- **Pelican Spray**: A fully autonomous electric crop duster for aerial application, designed to make crop protection safer, more precise, and less harmful to surrounding environments. Certified for commercial operation in New Zealand, Costa Rica, and the US (FAA 44807 Authorization).
- **Pelican Cargo**: The world's largest zero-emission autonomous cargo UAS, designed for remote connectivity, express delivery, and shipping critical supplies. Delivered to AFWERX (US Air Force innovation arm) for contested logistics use cases.
- **Pelican 2**: Next-generation autonomous aircraft unveiled in February 2025, featuring significant design improvements and securing FAA authorization for commercial operation in the US.
- **Proprietary technology ecosystem**: Flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and custom carbon-fiber composite airframes.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly disclosed
- **Key Metric**: Total funding of $95.12M (Series B of $40M raised in 2024/2025; Series A of $37M; Seed+ $8M; initial Y Combinator round $3M)
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Y Combinator (S17 batch), EmbraerX (partnership for Brazil operations), AFWERX (US Department of Air Force), GO-Biz (California tax credit award), SLC Agrícola (major ag customer)
- **Growth Signals**: 
  - Secured world's first approval for autonomous night spray operations in Costa Rica
  - Receiving orders across four continents (Americas, Europe, etc.)
  - Delivered Pelican Cargo to AFWERX for exploration of contested logistics use cases
  - Awarded $7M California Tax Credit to expand manufacturing
  - Surpassed 75 employees (from 50+ milestone)
  - Signed first major US customer for Pelican Spray

## Competitive Advantages
- First-mover regulatory advantage: World’s first autonomous electric aircraft certified for commercial work (2019), first FAA 44807 authorization for commercial autonomous electric crop spraying in the US, and first approval for night autonomous spray operations.
- Dual-use technology platform serving both commercial (agriculture, logistics) and defense (AFWERX) markets.
- Vertically integrated technology stack (proprietary flight control, avionics, motors, batteries, and airframes) creating deep moats against competitors.
- Real-world operational deployment across multiple countries and continents, not just prototypes or test flights.
- Strong safety record with regulatory approvals from FAA, New Zealand CAA, and Costa Rican authorities.

## Strategic Focus
- Scaling production of the Pelican 2 and Pelican Cargo aircraft lines
- Expanding into defense and dual-use applications (contested logistics for US Air Force)
- Growing commercial operations in agriculture with major customers like SLC Agrícola in Brazil
- Expanding global regulatory approvals to open new markets
- Building out manufacturing capacity with GO-Biz support in California
- Achieving economies of scale while maintaining vertical integration

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Pyka started in the founder's parents' garage with a "shoes optional" early culture, and retains a startup ethos focused on building game-changing products. Employees report working on things that make people's lives better now.
- **Engineering focus**: You'll work on cutting-edge autonomy, electric propulsion, and aerospace hardware/software. The tech stack spans flight control software, avionics, high power density motors, motor controllers, batteries, and carbon-fiber composites.
- **Impact**: "What you work on at Pyka makes people’s lives better now and brings the future of electric aviation one step closer each day."
- **Remote/Hybrid**: Some roles are remote (e.g., Flight Support Engineer - Night Shift, Brazil remote), while engineering and manufacturing roles likely require presence at the Alameda/Oakland facilities.
- **Location**: Based in Alameda, CA (with manufacturing in Oakland), offering a Bay Area aerospace startup experience.
- **Stage**: Series B with ~75 employees—ideal for someone who wants to join a growth-stage company with proven product-market fit and clear regulatory path to scale.
- **Current open roles** (via Lever): Senior Account Executive (Brazil), Deployed Flight Test Engineer, Flight Demo & Training Specialist (Multiple Levels), Flight Support Engineer (Night Shift, Brazil remote).

## Sources
1. [flypyka.com](https://www.flypyka.com/about-us)
2. [flypyka.com/careers](https://flypyka.com/careers)
3. [jobs.lever.co/pyka](https://jobs.lever.co/pyka/)
4. [cbinsights.com](https://www.cbinsights.com/company/pyka)
5. [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/pyka)

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