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The Exploration Company is developing Huracan, a cryogenic rocket engine integrating e-pumps, power electronics, valves, embedded software, and control systems. As a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) Engineer, you will design, build, and operate HIL platforms for verifying the engine control unit (ECU), power distribution unit (PDU), valve controllers, inverters, electric pumps, and associated software.
You will connect real hardware to real-time simulations using NI VeriStand and LabVIEW, automating testing and data analysis while developing emulator hardware for sensors, actuators, and subsystem behavior. Your work will span from engine controller board level through integrated propulsion subsystem verification, ensuring nominal and fault conditions are validated with repeatability, traceability, and early fault detection.
Key responsibilities include: designing and maintaining the HIL test environment; defining hardware and software architecture including signal conditioning and real-time targets; integrating real-time plant models (feed systems, valves, pumps, motors, combustion chamber, thermal behavior) into NI VeriStand; emulating flight-representative sensors (pressure transducers, thermocouples, RTDs, flow meters, position/speed feedback); emulating or integrating actuators and power electronics as real hardware, electrical loads, or models; developing LabVIEW applications for desktop and real-time platforms (PXI, cRIO) with custom devices and bus interfaces (CAN, RS-422/485, Ethernet); implementing fault injection for engine start-up, shutdown, abort sequences, and FDIR behavior verification; supporting test execution, data acquisition, logging, and automated reporting; validating and correlating simulation models against component and engine test data; creating and maintaining technical documentation; and debugging across the bench, models, and unit under test.
You will be responsible for delivering a robust, scalable HIL platform with reusable models, I/O configuration, and test sequences across engine configurations; running deterministic control loops and plant models at required rates using NI hardware, LabVIEW RT, and FPGA; defining test automation workflows using NI TestStand; coordinating with propulsion, avionics, and flight software engineers for requirements traceability; maintaining configuration control for reproducibility; contributing to continuous infrastructure evolution; and ensuring solutions meet space-grade quality and safety standards.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Electrical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Control Engineering, Computer Science, or related field
- Hands-on experience building and operating HIL test benches for closed-loop control systems (engine, motor, or actuator controllers)
- Proficiency in LabVIEW, including desktop and real-time application development
- Hands-on experience with NI VeriStand in real-time test environments, including integration of simulation models (Simulink, FMU, or C/C++)
- Experience emulating sensors and actuators at electrical level (analog, thermocouple/RTD, frequency and PWM, discrete I/O) and working with motor drives or inverters
- Familiarity with NI TestStand for test automation and execution management
- Solid understanding of test platform architectures, hardware/software integration, and real-time systems
- Strong debugging and troubleshooting skills with structured, methodical approach
- Ability to write and integrate Python scripts to extend test workflows or support automation
NICE-TO-HAVE:
- Experience with LabVIEW FPGA for high-speed sensor emulation or motor/inverter simulation
- Background in liquid rocket propulsion or fluid and thermal system modeling
- Experience with fault-insertion hardware and FDIR verification
- Familiarity with ECSS standards or equivalent aerospace standards (DO-178C)
- Experience supporting engine or integrated system test campaigns
