Composites and Structures Engineer

Who Are We? 

India does not manufacture commercial airplanes, Aspera Industries exists to change that.

We are engineering purpose-built unmanned amphibious airplanes for long-range cargo logistics. Our aircraft can fly over both land and water, fighting gravity at 20,000 ft for 2,000+ kms. We strive to see a world where millions of our aircraft fly across the globe, making the world smaller and smaller.

About this Role

We are designing and building our first 1,000 kg payload solution for maritime operations. Over the next few months, we’ll be building and flying multiple iterations of our sub-scale aircraft.

We are looking for someone who owns the end-to-end design, analysis, and manufacture of composite airframe structures from raw material and mould design through layup execution, cure, and post-cure validation. You will physically build parts, own the tooling, and drive manufacturing quality, while bringing enough structural rigour to define requirements and validate designs. Marine exposure, hydrodynamic loading, and amphibious hull design will be our live engineering constraints, not edge cases.

You will work closely with the aerodynamics and avionics teams to ensure every structural component is flight-worthy, lightweight, and manufacturable at pace on a lean programme.

What are we looking for

Qualifications matter less than demonstrated ability. We want to see what you have built. Hands-on composite fabrication experience is non-negotiable. If you have not personally executed a vacuum infusion or pre-preg layup, this role is not the right fit.

Core Responsibilities
1. Composite Part Design & Mould Making

Design composite parts from concept to detailed drawing: define ply book, fibre orientation, stack sequence, and core configuration to meet stiffness, strength, and weight targets. Select appropriate material systems CFRP, GFRP, pre-preg, wet layup, vacuum infusion based on loading environment, geometry, and production volume. Design and fabricate moulds and tooling from scratch: plugs, female moulds, and vacuum fixtures using foam, tooling board, fibreglass, or CF-faced tooling as appropriate. Specify surface release systems, mould treatment schedules, and post-cure mould maintenance procedures. Own the loop from defect to root cause to fix.

2. Manufacturing Process & Layup Execution

Execute composite layups hands-on: wet layup, vacuum bagging, pre-preg consolidation, and infusion processes for structural airframe parts this is a doing role, not a supervising one. Perform and oversee non-destructive inspection (NDI): visual, tap-test, and ultrasonic methods; disposition anomalies against accept/reject criteria. Develop post-cure machining, trimming, and drilling sequences for composite parts; specify tooling and feeds/speeds to prevent delamination and fibre pull-out. Drive continuous improvement in first-pass yield, cycle time, and scrap rate through systematic root-cause analysis of manufacturing defects.

3. Structural Design & Analysis

Translate aerodynamic load envelopes and mission profiles into internal load cases; derive strength, stiffness, and stability requirements for all primary and secondary structures. Size structural members spars, ribs, bulkheads, skins, longerons using classical laminate theory, beam-column methods, and first-principles hand calculations. Perform stress, buckling, and fatigue analysis using FEA tools; define and execute model verification and validation plans. Generate and maintain a structural margins-of-safety document across the full flight envelope, including boost loads, recovery shock, and handling cases. Develop and refine mass budgets; identify structural weight-reduction opportunities without compromising integrity or repairability. Interface with aerodynamics to assess aeroelastic sensitivities flutter, divergence, control reversal and feed results back into the structural design loop.

Required Abilities 

Hands-on experience executing composite layups not just designing them including vacuum bagging and infusion; this is non-negotiable. Demonstrated ability to design and build moulds and tooling from scratch, from plug geometry through mould release and validation. Deep familiarity with composite material systems: CFRP, GFRP, core materials, and adhesives including selection rationale based on structural and process requirements. Strong understanding of composite failure modes: fibre fracture, matrix cracking, delamination, bearing, and pull-through, and how manufacturing decisions affect them. Strong first-principles structural analysis capability: classical laminate theory, beam theory, buckling, and joint analysis.

Fluency in 3D CAD, CATIA, SolidWorks, Fusion 360, or equivalent. Background in aerospace or automotive composites strongly preferred. Solid understanding of structural load paths and aero structural interaction in thin-walled flight vehicle structures.

Nice to have: FEA experience (ANSYS, Abaqus, Nastran, or equivalent) for stress, buckling, and fatigue analysis; exposure to aerodynamics and how aero surfaces drive structural requirements; additional manufacturing process knowledge in CNC machining, metal bonding, sheet metal, or additive manufacturing.

Should You Really Join Us? 

If you like learning, if you like figuring things out by yourself without others telling you how to do it and thrive under work pressure to build thousands of airplanes then this is for you. We are a lean team. There is no rule book to what we’re doing. There is no one to hand hold you. You have an end goal which is based on a real product and you need to get it done your own way. It’s challenging, and we all love it here.