Metallurgical Engineering Intern

About this role

MAKING THE METALS POWERING THE WORLD

Solcoa is building the next generation of American metalmaking, starting with rare earths — the metals of power and motion. We've developed a new chemistry that converts rare earth oxides into high-purity metals — the materials inside every EV, fighter jet, wind turbine, and data center — cleaner, cheaper, and faster than any conventional process. Now we're scaling it to thousands of tonnes of annual production.

THE ROLE — METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING INTERN

Join our process team and help turn rare earth magnet waste into high-purity metals. You'll support our reactor operations, assist with alloy production, and keep our documentation tight—working with metallurgists, chemists, and technicians to move quickly from lab scale to production.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

- Assist with high-temperature and high-vacuum reactor operations.

- Help characterize feed materials and products using ICP-OES, SEM-EDS, LECO O/N.

- Run furnace cycles, collect process data, and summarize results to inform design iterations

- Maintain organized logs of process parameters, equipment conditions, and sample tracking

- Support equipment maintenance: vacuum systems, induction coils, thermocouples, and gas handling

- Contribute to safety-first culture and continuous improvement on the facility floor.

WHAT YOU BRING

REQUIRED

- Pursuing a BS/MS in Metallurgical Engineering, Materials Science, or related field

- Exposure to pyrometallurgy, electrometallurgy, or high-temperature processing (coursework or labs).

- Hands-on experience from labs, foundry work, internships, or personal projects (furnaces, casting, heat treatment)

- Detail-oriented, disciplined documentation, and reliable follow-through

- Comfortable in a fast-paced, hardware-centric environment and willing to get your hands dirty

- On-site availability; able to start soon

PREFERRED

- Experience with vacuum or inert-atmosphere furnace operation

- Familiarity with rare-earth metallurgy, molten salt electrolysis, or reactive metal processing

- Basic thermodynamic analysis skills (Ellingham diagrams, phase diagrams, FactSage/HSC a plus)

- Welding or basic machining experience (mill/lathe)

- Python/MATLAB for data analysis

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

- Competitive compensation.

- Insurance provided.

- Support relocating to the Bay Area.

- Company-provided lunch daily.

- J1 Visa sponsorship available if needed.