R&D internship: Zemax optical design F/H

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Published on 23/10/2025

  • Contract type:  Internship

  • Work time:  Full time

  • Location Rennes

The company

Founded in 2013, Cailabs designs, manufactures, and develops innovative photonic solutions for the space, industry, telecommunications, and defense sectors. A global specialist in laser shaping, the company has accelerated its growth in the space field with turnkey optical ground stations that integrate atmospheric turbulence compensation technology. This makes it one of the first companies to harness very high data rates enabled by optics in a commercial ground station.

Cailabs currently has 150 employees, including 35 PhDs. With 29 patent families filed, the company is one of the most innovative companies in France. It is headquartered in Rennes, with offices in Paris and Washington (USA).

Internship description

You will work within the Simulation Division in Cailabs' R&D department.
The internship involves developing and structuring the Zemax modelling library currently used at Cailabs, with a view to standardising optical design tools for innovative systems in the field of optical telecommunications. 
 
The aim is to facilitate the upstream R&D phases, design iterations, and validation and debugging stages within the company. 
 

 

Under the supervision of your internship tutor, you will:

  • Identify the recurring functional building blocks of the optical systems developed by Cailabs (typical systems and subsystems)
  • Define the corresponding models to be integrated into the standard library
  • Participate in the development of a structured framework enabling optical engineers to accurately and reproducibly model production systems, in conjunction with internal simulation and validation tools.
  • You will be required to compare your work with other departments involved in opto-mechanical design. 

 

Profile required

Key points:

  • Second- or third-year engineering student specialising in optics and optical system modelling (design, ray tracing, performance, etc.)
  • Solid knowledge of geometric optics and photonics
  • Basic knowledge of ray tracing software (CodeV and/or Zemax OpticStudio)

Bonus points:

  • Knowledge of Gaussian optics/Gaussian beam optics and their propagation properties
  • Knowledge of opto-mechanics
  • Knowledge of Python
  • Curiosity and interest in optical design and optical component design (lenses, mirrors, freeform optics, etc.)

 

By joining Cailabs, you will find:

A dynamic team of engineers and PhDs who share your desire to put their skills to work on stimulating technical challenges.
A collective spirit of emulation and a strong intellectual interest in your work.
A company at the cutting edge of technology, from prototype development to industrialisation.

And also:

Opportunities for sharing and socialising (annual seminar, meals, group games, sports activities, etc.)
A modern and pleasant working environment, conducive to collaborative work
Meal vouchers

 

Joining Cailabs means you can be sure that everything will be done to help you develop new skills.

For more information: www.cailabs.com

Réf: a3f7e572-7caf-4b12-bddc-5ae955aa2cde

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R&D internship: Zemax optical design F/H

Internship
Full time
Rennes

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