Imaging Internship

About Urban Sky:  

Urban Sky is a venture-backed aerospace startup that pioneers utilization of the stratosphere and reimagines the way humans view and analyze the earth. We design, build, operate, and sell stratospheric balloon systems, and the data we collect supports a wide range of applications, from real-time wildfire monitoring to urban mapping. Urban Sky sends flight vehicles to the stratosphere on a weekly basis.  

Our team consists of engineers, makers, developers, and doers who believe in the power of human potential when passion meets utility within a small, supportive team. At Urban Sky we strive to create a team culture grounded in candor, inclusion, respect and empowerment.   

We aim to build the next chapter of stratospheric history in Denver and are seeking self-starting, open-minded, and hard-working team members.  

 
About The Role:  

Urban Sky is offering a graduate student internship for its Imaging Department for Summer 2024. During your internship you will work closely with your mentor and other employees, who will guide you as you apply your knowledge to 3D / terrain reconstruction from Urban Sky’s stratospheric balloon imagery. The internship aims to give the student real-world experience with huge, novel, cutting-edge, remote-sensing datasets, whose 3D aspects and implications have never been fully exploited. You don’t get these kinds of datasets and opportunity for impact at university. 

Intern(s) will gain functional exposure to the following functional areas: 

• Remote sensing 

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and software 

• Multi-view geometry and 3D / terrain reconstruction 

Specific Responsibilities: 

• Learn Urban Sky’s unique data collection geometry, research conventions and formats, and get Urban Sky data accepted by various software packages for 3D and terrain estimation. 

• Evaluate quality, document procedure, and share results with the team. 

• Identify bottlenecks and limitations, and investigate possible improvements, whether they be to collection strategy or in how we process the data. 

Skills Interns will learn: 

• 3D and terrain estimation from large aerial datasets 

• Experience with GIS and mapping software 

• Professional and technical communication and presentation 

Qualifications: 

• Independent upper-division (upperclassman) or graduate student that is enthusiastic about creating 3D / terrain models from remotely sensed imagery. 

• Majoring in, coursework in, and/or background in one or more of the following: Computer vision, multi-view geometry, imaging science, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), structure from motion (SfM) 

• Software skills: Ability to navigate a C++ code base; basic scripting skills and scientific computing (e.g., Python or Matlab/Octave). 
   

Preferred Skills and Experience: 

• Graduate student with at least 1 year of graduate school completed. 

• Experience with software packages like OpenDroneMap, OpenSfM, Agisoft Metashape, Erdas Imagine, Pix4D, or OpenCV  

• Hobbyists in aerial drone mapping would love this project, but it’s certainly not required. 

Pay and Benefits:  

• Hourly Pay: $25 - $30 per hour   

• We are required to post this salary range per Colorado law. Your salary will be determined based on your abilities and experience.  

• Cell Phone Bill Stipend  
   

NOTE: Research suggests that women and BIPOC individuals may self-select out of opportunities if they don’t meet 100% of the job requirements. We encourage anyone who believes that they have the skills and the passion necessary to succeed here to apply for this role.  

Urban Sky is an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business needs.