Working Student Hardware Engineering & Product Design (m/f/d)

<h2>About the role</h2><p>Modern conflict runs on the electromagnetic spectrum, and the systems that listen to it have to survive the real world. Datacept builds cognitive electronic warfare systems: passive wideband sensing, AI-driven signal analysis, deployed at ports, stadiums, critical infrastructure, and military sites.</p><p>Our systems are already in use with customers. Now the hardware has to scale: produced repeatedly, refined, and trusted in the field.</p><p>We are looking for a working student who can take it there: someone who designs the part in CAD and then makes it on the machine.</p><h2>Your role</h2><p>You are the hands of our hardware team. You take our existing hardware and develop it into the next generation: robust, manufacturable, well-designed. You work directly with the founders and the engineers, you make design decisions, and you build your own parts in our workshop instead of waiting for someone else to.</p><h2>What you will do</h2><ul><li><p>Develop our current hardware into a series-ready next generation: construction, assemblies, tolerances, materials</p></li><li><p>Product design: enclosures, ergonomics, surfaces, mounting, and ease of assembly in the field</p></li><li><p>Create CAD models, technical drawings, and bills of materials</p></li><li><p>Build prototypes and samples yourself on our in-house CNC mill and 3D printers, plus assembly and functional tests</p></li><li><p>Test hardware under real conditions, learn from failures, and iterate quickly</p></li><li><p>Coordinate with suppliers and manufacturing partners on what works in series production</p></li></ul><h2>How we work</h2><ul><li><p><strong>Build, don't just draw.</strong> An idea becomes a part in your hand before it becomes a document.</p></li><li><p><strong>Fast learners over specific backgrounds.</strong> We care more about how quickly you pick up new skills than where you have worked before.</p></li><li><p><strong>Intellectual honesty.</strong> The right answer matters more than being right. If the test shows the design fails, we change the design.</p></li><li><p><strong>Ownership of outcomes.</strong> You organise your own time, focus on what matters, and cut out inefficiencies. Nobody manages your calendar for you.</p></li><li><p><strong>Not building in a vacuum.</strong> You stay connected to the founders, the software and RF team, and the sites where our systems run, so that all the pieces fit together in the field.</p></li></ul><h2>Requirements</h2><ul><li><p>You study mechanical engineering, product design, mechatronics, or a similar field</p></li><li><p>You have strong CAD skills (e.g. SolidWorks, Fusion 360, Inventor)</p></li><li><p>You have built real hardware, not only modelled it</p></li><li><p>You have operated a CNC mill, or you are ready to learn it on ours</p></li><li><p>You understand design for manufacturing</p></li><li><p>You go from idea to prototype on your own, and you ask for help when it speeds things up rather than when you are stuck</p></li><li><p>You are available up to 20 hours per week during the semester, more during semester breaks if you want</p></li></ul><h2>Helpful, not required</h2><ul><li><p>Basic CAM knowledge (e.g. Fusion 360 CAM)</p></li><li><p>Experience with FDM or resin 3D printing, turning, sheet metal, or comp