Systems Engineering Co-op — BlueHalo

Role & Context

• Company: BlueHalo (now part of AeroVironment) — defense and space technology contractor.
• Team: Systems engineering group supporting multiple hardware programs.
• Program types: flight computers, fast-steering mirrors / ECUs, optical space telescopes.
• Workflow: Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) using Cameo Systems Modeler.

Responsibilities & Scope

• Owned requirements definition, decomposition, and allocation across system levels.
• Migrated legacy, document-based requirements into an MBSE workflow, building an as-is SysML model hierarchy in Cameo Systems Modeler to improve traceability, impact analysis, and product definition.
• Maintained and updated system models in Cameo to reflect evolving requirements and architecture.
• Partnered with test teams to produce customer-facing test reports for space-qualified hardware.
• Built and updated flight-unit compliance matrices to ensure full requirements coverage from specification through verification artifact to delivered evidence package.
• Developed Python automation scripts to streamline team workflows and reduce manual effort across the verification program.

Process & Tools

• MBSE tooling: Cameo Systems Modeler for requirements, architecture, and traceability models.
• Verification workflow: requirements decomposition → test definition → evidence collection → compliance reporting.
• Cross-functional coordination with test engineers, program managers, and customer stakeholders.

Results & Impact

• Authored 10+ customer-facing test reports across 3 concurrent hardware programs, supporting verification milestones for space-qualified flight hardware.
• Maintained 10+ compliance matrices tracing 500+ requirements from specification through delivered evidence package.
• Developed Python automation scripts saving approximately 200 FTE program hours per month.

Key Takeaways

• Applied MBSE practices across multiple concurrent hardware programs, building proficiency in requirements traceability and verification documentation in a fast-paced program environment.

Hardware Context

Representative examples of the space-qualified hardware programs supported during this co-op.