Mechanical Engineering Co-op (March/April Start until Aug/Sep 2026)

DropletPharma is developing two microscale devices to vastly accelerate radiopharmaceutical discovery and production and execute our vision to drastically improve health outcomes. As a Mechanical Engineering Intern on our team, you will be tasked with taking ownership of and implementing core improvements to the mechanical and fluidic systems for our two flagship systems. This will be a fully in-person position in West Los Angeles, CA (near LAX), given involved and hands-on engineering work.

Requirements

What you will have ownership over:

• Designing, prototyping, testing, and characterizing mechanical and fluidic subsystems for our radiopharmaceutical production and discovery systems

• Building and testing assemblies and prototype systems

• Assisting with developing and maintaining design documentation as well as manuals and SOPs for operation of prototype systems

• Performing experiments to evaluate new concepts and designs

• Troubleshooting and improving designs

• Developing test instrumentation

What we hope to see on your resume/CV:

• Pursuing B.S. degree or higher in Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics Engineering or similar

• 2+ years of experience with SolidWorks, designing parts & assemblies

• Hands-on development experience with building/testing mechanical, electro-mechanical, and/or fluidic systems

• Understanding of machining principles (Lathe, CNC mill, etc.)

• Rapid prototyping (3D Printing, Basic Machine Tools, Laser Cutter, etc.)

• Understanding of GD&T

• Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word)

What we hope to observe about you during our conversation about your work (even one great project/experience can cover all these!):

• Meticulous, logical, fundamental approach across all your work

• Ability to communicate key messages of your work succinctly across written, oral and slide presentations, and have mastery over your work such that you can elaborate deeply when needed

• A demonstrated deep curiosity

• Examples of how you tackled roadblocks and cleared them

• Experience in collaborating across engineering disciplines (e.g., interacting with electrical engineers, software teams, etc. on large projects)

• Demonstrated ability to work in a dynamic environment, adapt to changes and deliver on milestones on tight timelines

• Comfortable working as part of a startup team, taking on outsized responsibility of assigned projects and tasks and demonstrating ability to suggest key improvements - including ones that shape the company’s future

• Something extraordinary you've accomplished and are particularly proud of

And finally, experience that would be great, but not required:

• Finite Element Analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics (e.g., Microfluidics work)

• Control systems development

• Automation/test tools in Java, Labview etc.

Benefits

Ensuring purpose and belonging at our company:

Cancer and other debilitating diseases don’t discriminate, and neither do we. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. DropletPharma is committed to providing the best possible environment to ensure that our team members feel valued and have purpose in the work they do.

Benefits:

DropletPharma aims to provide competitive compensation. We expect this position to be a regular, full-time position, with an hourly rate of $25-40/hour, depending on your experience and education.

Please note that we are unable to sponsor a visa for this position and therefore can only consider applications from individuals already authorized to work in the United States. Although our primary location is in Los Angeles, CA, we welcome applications from candidates residing anywhere.