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# Hardware Engineer

- **Company:** ASTERA INC
- **Location:** United States
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** 3D Printing, Visual Systems, Pcb Layout
- **Published:** October 22, 2026
- **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/hardware-engineer-precision-instrumentation-astera-institute-10536174

## About the Role

* Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in mechanical, electrical, or biomedical engineering, physics, or a related field, with a track record of building precision hardware in a high-precision industry (e.g., medical devices, robotics, aerospace, semiconductor capital equipment, or commercial scientific instrumentation).
 * Experience designing and building hardware that other people relied on for real work, and keeping it running.
 * Resourcefulness about getting things built quickly: comfortable machining one part, 3D-printing the next, and outsourcing what's better made elsewhere.
 * Comfort working from a rough idea rather than a finished spec, figuring out the path to a working instrument together with the people who need it.
 * Deep fundamentals in mechanical design and fabrication, with real working ability in electronics or optics; you do not restrict yourself to what is familiar.
 * Intellectual curiosity, collaborative instincts, and eagerness to learn the science around you.
 * A track record of owning complex instruments end-to-end, from concept through fabrication, integration, and reliable operation.
 * Experience making and defending design tradeoffs across performance, manufacturability, cost, and timeline.
 * Experience equipping and running a workshop, makerspace, or prototyping facility.

Preferred/Nice to Have:

 * Experience with small precise parts, difficult materials, tight tolerances, precision motion, or optical alignment.
 * Hands-on electronics design experience (PCB layout, embedded systems, sensor/actuator integration).
 * Familiarity with electrophysiology or other low-volume, high-complexity hardware environments.
 * CAD/CAM proficiency with hands-on machining (CNC, lathe, mill) and 3D printing.
 * Experience integrating hardware with data acquisition systems (DAQ, TTL synchronization, serial/SPI protocols).

## Description

As a Hardware Engineer, you will design and build the physical systems our experiments depend on, most of which don't exist commercially. Working directly with scientists, you will take a project from a well-specified plan or a rough idea through design, fabrication, and iteration until it works for the experiment. The work crosses mechanical design, fabrication, electronics, and optics, often within a single project., * Design precision mechanical systems for experiments, such as titanium microfixtures, micrometer-precision electrode drives, and custom machined jigs.

 * Build components for custom microscopes and optical systems, including alignment and mounting hardware.
 * Design and iterate custom laboratory instrumentation and surgical or experimental robotics alongside the scientists who depend on them.
 * Develop electronics and control hardware that interface mechanical systems with data acquisition and the rest of the research stack.
 * Help build the design and prototyping facility itself - the tooling, workflows, and fabrication capabilities that determine how fast the team can move.