Student Worker Program - Chassis Controls Integration Engineer

Ford - Palo Alto, CA

Full-time - Intern

Palo Alto, CA

Transportation Equipment Manufacturing

About the position

The Chassis Controls Integration Student Worker position at Ford is a 6-month program designed for students to gain hands-on experience in the automotive industry, specifically within the Electric Vehicle Digital Design (EVDD) team. The role focuses on testing, validation, and analysis of safety-critical chassis controls software and electronic chassis systems, contributing to the development of innovative electric vehicles and key technologies.

Responsibilities

• Support firmware and electrical integration of chassis control systems into vehicle platforms.
• Contribute to the development and refinement of control algorithms for chassis systems.
• Work with vehicle dynamics, powertrain, and safety teams to ensure chassis systems integration aligns with overall vehicle performance goals.
• Support chassis control system calibration for optimal performance across various driving conditions.
• Troubleshoot and resolve issues with test setups, including vehicle instrumentation and HIL systems.
• Design and execute test plans for chassis control systems, including both virtual simulations and real-world testing.
• Define test requirements, methods, and success criteria.
• Conduct vehicle testing, including ride and handling, performance tuning.
• Travel to test locations to conduct track and road testing, as well as support prototype vehicle development.
• Support instrumentation of test vehicles with sensors and data acquisition systems to ensure accurate data collection on chassis control performance.
• Analyze test data and generate detailed reports, providing insights and recommendations for system improvements.
• Support setup, configuration, and maintenance of a Driver/Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) bench, including the integration of chassis control modules for simulation and testing.
• Conduct simulations to assess vehicle response and optimize vehicle dynamics, including parameter tuning for electric powertrain integration.
• Support testing activities by correlating simulation results with real-world test data and refining models based on test feedback.

Requirements

• B.S. or M.S in Automotive Engineering, Software Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or Embedded Systems.
• Strong Software, Electrical and Embedded Systems Engineering fundamentals.
• Hands-on experience with vehicle dynamics, chassis systems, and instrumentation for data collection and analysis.
• Familiarity with vehicle dynamics and testing methods, including ride and handling evaluations.
• Experience with Vehicle Network Protocols such as CAN, LIN & Automotive Ethernet.
• Proficiency in using calibration tools and vehicle modeling software (e.g., MATLAB, Simulink, CANalyzer, CANoe, CANape).
• Strong communication and teamwork abilities.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, cross functional environment.
• Willingness to travel for testing and collaboration with other teams.
• Valid driver's license and the ability to drive test vehicles.
• Prior experience with physical vehicle testing and model correlation techniques.

Nice-to-haves

• Formula SAE or equivalent experience.
• Software scripting experience (Python or similar) preferred.
• Experience with vehicle testing, racing and/or at limit driving.
• Experience with HIL systems and vehicle simulation environments is highly desirable including simulation tools (e.g., dSPACE, National Instruments).
• Experience in chassis control systems (e.g., ABS, ESC, BTC).
• Experience of real-time control system conceptualization, implementation and development.
• Knowledge of control theory and experience with controller development for vehicle dynamics applications.

Benefits

• High level of involvement with an exceptional team of industry innovators and visionaries.
• Opportunity to contribute meaningfully to breakthrough work in the automotive industry.
• Development of skills that provide a significant edge in future career pursuits.