Mechanical Engineering Co-op

Airborne Optical Systems | Third-Year University Student
Burlington, ON

Candidates must be eligible to meet the requirements of Canada's Controlled Goods Program under the Defence Production Act and obtain and maintain the security clearances required for their work. If unsure about your eligibility, consult the Government of Canada website HERE.

About the Role

At PVLabs, a mechanical design has to work beyond the screen. It must support an optical alignment, accommodate motion, manage heat or survive vibration—and still make sense to the person building it. You will learn how those demands shape the decisions behind a part, an assembly and a complete airborne system.

We build advanced imaging systems that bring mechanics, optics, electronics, controls and software together into stabilized airborne capability. We are seeking a third-year Mechanical Engineering co-op student ready to put strong fundamentals to work on real hardware.

You will contribute to components, fixtures, small assemblies, engineering calculations and test activities within clearly defined assignments. Experienced engineers will guide and review your work, while expecting you to arrive prepared, think through problems and act on feedback.

This will be a demanding placement. You will encounter problems without a textbook answer, competing constraints and decisions that affect someone else's work. The opportunity is to learn more deeply and across more disciplines than a classroom or isolated design project can offer—and demonstrate that learning in hardware you can build, measure and improve.

About the Responsibilities

Starting now:

Learn our products, CAD and drawing practices, manufacturing methods and safety requirements. Take on a defined design, fixture or test assignment, and learn to explain your assumptions, check your work and prepare for review.

As you gain familiarity:

Carry smaller assignments from requirements through design, review and physical verification, with guidance at key decisions. Seek input from technicians and engineers, incorporate feedback and connect your calculations to what happens at the bench.

By the end of your term:

Deliver a completed piece of engineering work with explicit drawings, supporting evidence and a useful handover. You should be able to explain what you designed, why you made those choices, how it was checked and what you would improve next time.

About the Details

- Develop concepts,



CAD models and drawings for assigned parts, fixtures and small assemblies within established requirements.
- Apply materials, mechanics, heat transfer and dynamics fundamentals to practical design questions, with support from experienced engineers.
- Complete engineering calculations and introductory analysis, checking units, loads, assumptions and whether the results make physical sense.
- Learn to apply datum structures, GD&T; and basic tolerance stacks with attention to assembly, alignment and inspection.
- Consider manufacturing processes, tool access, fastening, cable clearance and service needs before a design reaches the shop floor.
- Support prototype builds, fit checks, measurements and tests; compare actual behaviour with your predictions.
- Investigate bounded mechanical problems using observations and evidence, and verify proposed corrections with your supervisor.
- Keep models, drawings, calculations and test records organized so others can review and use them.
- Break assignments into achievable steps, provide estimates and raise questions or delays while there is still time to respond.
- Participate in design reviews, explain your reasoning and show how feedback has improved the next iteration.

Key Requirements

- Entering or completing third year in Mechanical Engineering, or a closely related university engineering program, and eligible for a co-op placement.
- Strong foundations in mechanics, materials and engineering mathematics, with the ability to apply them beyond a familiar classroom example.
- Working capability in SolidWorks or comparable three-dimensional CAD software, including parts, assemblies and basic drawings.
- Evidence of designing, building, testing or troubleshooting something physical through coursework, a student team, previous employment or a personal project.
- The ability to explain your contribution, your design choices and something that did not work as expected.
- Careful work habits and a willingness to check your own results before submitting them for review.
- Initiative in learning unfamiliar material, asking focused questions and applying feedback.




- Honest communication about progress and uncertainty, and the judgment to seek review before making consequential changes.

We do not expect professional-level judgment on day one. We do expect you to think, prepare and become more capable as the term progresses.

Key Nicetohavements

- Participation in Formula SAE, robotics, aerospace or another student design-and-build team.
- Machining, fabrication, additive manufacturing, assembly or measurement experience.
- Exposure to GD&T;, tolerance analysis, FEA or thermal analysis.
- Projects involving mechanisms, motors, sensors, cameras or other integrated hardware.
- Python, MATLAB or similar tools used for calculations or test-data analysis.

About You as a Mechanical Engineering Co-op Student

You are curious enough to ask why something works and practical enough to build or test your explanation. You may already spend time making, repairing or taking things apart. What matters is that you learn from the result.

You want a placement that stretches you. You can accept a challenge to your design, admit when you do not understand something and return with a better answer. You respect the experience of the technician assembling your part as much as the engineer reviewing it.

You take ownership of the work within your reach. You follow through, keep people informed and leave your assignments in a condition someone else can understand and build on.

What's in It for You?

PVLabs is where engineering fundamentals meet hardware that has to perform. You'll work alongside experienced engineers and technicians, see your designs become physical parts, and learn how mechanical decisions affect optics, stabilization, electronics and manufacturing.

The learning will be broad, practical and sometimes uncomfortable—in the useful way that comes from discovering what you do not yet know and working through it. You will have access to people who can help, and meaningful work that gives you a reason to ask better questions.

We run on autonomy, mastery, and purpose—with a year-round 4-day, 32-hour work week and performance over presence. This hands-on placement is centred on our Burlington engineering, assembly and test facilities.

If you want to finish your co-op with stronger judgment, tangible work to discuss and a much clearer understanding of what it takes to engineer a real system, bring your curiosity and be ready to use it.

📌 Mechanical Engineering Co-Op Student (Burlington)
🏢 CareerBeacon
📍 Burlington