Solcoa
Metallurgical Engineering Intern
6d ago
USATraineeicp-oessem-edsleco o/nvacuum systemsinduction coilsthermocouplesgas handling
Intern role supporting rare earth metal production processes and equipment maintenance at Solcoa.
Responsibilities
- 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.
- 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.
Nice to have
- 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
Conditions
- Competitive compensation.
- Insurance provided.
- Support relocating to the Bay Area.
- Company-provided lunch daily.
- J1 Visa sponsorship available if needed.
Other
- Solcoa Industries is an American rare earth metals producer headquartered in Alameda, California.
- We convert rare-earth oxides and magnet manufacturing scrap into the high-purity metals and alloys at the foundation of electrification, automation, and defense — the materials inside every fighter jet, EV, wind turbine, and phone.
- For decades, the West has depended on China to produce these materials. Solcoa is rebuilding that supply chain at home: we're one of the very few producers outside China, and the only one developing new chemistries and a proprietary process to produce these metals at lower cost than conventional routes — without the harmful emissions.
- 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