ABOUT THE DIN

Development of Autonomous Scientific Platforms for Defence

AirLabOne

Duration: 3-months
Start Date: October 2026
Location: Sydney, NSW 
Scholarship: $20,000

About the Company

AirLabOne is an Australian deep-tech company developing advanced autonomous scientific platforms for defence and national security applications. Focused on strengthening Australia’s sovereign capability through innovative hardware and software systems for remote and austere operations, AirLabOne is a resident of the CICADA Innovations STRIDE program and won the 2025 SelectUSA Investment Summit Tech Competition in its category. The company is expanding into the United States with an office in Southern California.

Project Objective

The intern will contribute to the development of an advanced autonomous scientific platform designed for deployment in remote, austere and contested defence environments. The platform integrates sensors, scientific instrumentation, AI, embedded hardware and software to deliver environmental monitoring, hazard assessment and autonomous scientific analysis capabilities. The project builds directly on existing work and delivers a demonstration prototype, strengthening Australia’s sovereign capability to develop and field deployable engineering systems for mission-critical environments.

Project Tasks

  • Weeks 1–4: Review platform architecture; establish development environment on provided hardware; integrate prototype hardware components. Output: development environment established and prototype hardware integrated.
  • Weeks 5–8: Develop and integrate autonomous platform capabilities — sensor fusion, AI processing, environmental monitoring and hazard assessment modules; validate system functionality. Output: functional prototype modules.
  • Weeks 9–12: Conduct system-level testing; optimise prototype performance; prepare technical documentation. Output: demonstration prototype and final technical report.

Intern Skills

  • Embedded systems development — electronics and embedded hardware integration, PCB and/or FPGA design; firmware and software development in Python and/or C++.
  • Linux development environment; Git version control; hardware integration, testing and validation.
  • Strong problem-solving skills; self-motivated; good communicator; collaborative team player; willingness to learn.
  • Australian citizenship required

How to apply

Eligible students (Australian citizens) apply via the online application form and submit a CV and motivation letter by 6 September 2026.

Our Partner Universities

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