Mechanical & Validation Engineer Co-op - Summer​/Fall

Mechanical & Validation Engineer - Underwater Robotics Job Description

Fleet Robotics is a green‑tech startup developing an underwater robot to inspect and maintain ship hulls. At Fleet, we are looking for a Mechanical & Validation Engineer to help develop our ship‑hull cleaning and inspection robot. The primary focus of the position would be to lead Fleet's coating compatibility study, measuring the robot's impact on the hull coating over its lifetime and researching the effectiveness of different cleaning solutions.

This role offers the ability to contribute significantly to a novel and meaningful environmental application by working with a small, close‑knit, and fast‑paced team.

We are tackling a thousand‑year‑old problem: the growth of biofouling on ships. Biofouling is the growth of microorganisms, algae, barnacles, and larger ocean organisms on the ship’s hull. As a ship delivers goods around the world, the growth of these organisms significantly increases the drag forces on the hull and in doing so, significantly increases fuel consumption. Ships are the world’s largest consumers of carbon‑heavy fuels (called bunker fuels).

Conventionally, the commercial shipping industry handles biofouling in two ways: preventatively, by coating the ship’s hull in a highly toxic paint that discourages growth, and reactively, by stopping operations every six‑months or so to have divers scrape off years of fouling (along with some toxic paint). This is akin to deciding never to brush your teeth because you go to the dentist every five years.

There is a better way.

Our small autonomous robots live on the side of a ship’s hull for years, gently removing the earliest stage of biofouling on a regular basis. This early‑stage biofouling is easy‑to‑remove slime. The technical challenge lies in having a robot that can withstand a marine environment, adhere to the ship hull while it is underway, and clean entirely autonomously. By removing slime often and early, we prevent the growth of macrofouling, significantly reduce fuel consumption, and prevent the spread of invasive species from port to port.

• Conduct testing to measure impact of robotic cleaning systems on anti‑fouling hull coatings over their operational lifetime
• Perform biofouling characterization and cleaning research to inform cleaning mechanism design and robot operation
• Support development and fabrication of cleaning mechanisms, applying learnings from testing efforts
• Test robot operation in underwater environments and analyze performance data
• Assist in other robot design/development needs as they come up

• Currently enrolled in a 4‑year university program of a related discipline and available for a 4‑8 month internship or co‑op
• Comfortable designing in CAD, with Fusion
  360 or Solidworks
• Experience fabricating parts through CNC, 3D Printing, Sheet Metal or with regular hand tools
• Ability to analyze problems and come up with test plans to validate designs
• Good teamwork, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work independently and within complementary teams

Fleet Robotics grew out of the Harvard Microrobotics lab, incubated by Material Impact and Harvard University. We have a core team of roboticists who have designed robots for use in underwater inspection and navigation, and who were the world’s first to deploy tracking tags to sperm whales with autonomous drones. We are a passionate team that cares deeply about solving significant environmental and ocean‑based problems with cutting‑edge robotics.

Everyone’s background is different. We are committed to fostering an environment with diverse experiences, ideas, and backgrounds. Diversity includes not only race and gender identity, but also sexual orientation, religion, and disability status. We are deliberate and self‑reflective about the kind of team culture that we are building, seeking engineers who are not only strong in their own aptitudes but who care deeply about supporting each other’s growth.

If you are excited by the ability to develop novel robots and solve challenges, then we encourage you to apply.