Airbag Engineer

1. Main Responsibilities

An Airbag Engineer works on vehicle safety systems (passive safety) such as airbags and seatbelts.

Core Tasks

• Develop airbag systems and integrate them into vehicles across the entire product lifecycle.

• Create system specifications, packaging design, and engineering drawings for airbags.

• Perform design validation and subsystem integration testing.

• Support vehicle crash tests and safety certification (homologation).

• Work with design studio, interior engineering, and BIW teams to optimize occupant safety.

• Manage Tier-1 suppliers that manufacture airbags and restraint components.

• Ensure targets for performance, cost, weight, timing, and quality are met.

• Analyze test results and solve deployment or integration issues.

• Maintain documentation, guidelines, and lessons learned for future vehicle platforms.

2. Typical Engineering Work

Daily technical work may include:

• Airbag packaging in CAD models

• Tolerance stack-up analysis (GD&T)

• Airbag deployment simulations

• Crash test analysis

• Root cause analysis if airbag deployment fails

• Integration with steering wheel, instrument panel, curtain airbags, seats

Airbag types commonly engineered:

• Driver airbag

• Passenger airbag

• Side airbag

• Curtain airbag

• Knee airbag

3. Required Qualifications

Typical requirements include:

Education

• Bachelor s or Master s in:

  • Mechanical Engineering

  • Automotive Engineering

  • Mechatronics

Experience

• ~3+ years in airbag or restraint system engineering

• Experience in automotive OEM or Tier-1 suppliers

Technical Skills

• CAD tools (Catia / NX / Creo)

• GD&T and tolerance analysis

• APQP processes

  • DFMEA

  • DRBFM

  • DVP&R

  • 8D problem solving

• Knowledge of passive safety technology

• Understanding of materials, biomechanics, and crash dynamics

4. Useful Additional Skills

Nice-to-have skills:

• CAE simulation (LS-DYNA, Abaqus)

• Crashworthiness knowledge

• Airbag deployment testing

• Automotive safety regulations

• Program management

5. Key Goal of the Role

The main objective is to design restraint systems that help vehicles achieve top safety ratings (like 5-star crash safety) while balancing cost, weight, and manufacturability