Metallurgical Engineering Intern
Overview - Making the Metals Powering the World
Solcoa exists to stabilize the western rare-earth metal supply chain—powering every fighter jet, EV, wind turbine, phone, and generator. We're among the very few companies outside China producing rare-earth metals—and the only one delivering a 100% U.S. supply of both light and heavy rare earths. Our carbon-zero process converts end-of-life magnets directly into metal, ready to accelerate energy independence and secure one of the world's most vital resources.
We are a lean, well-funded team rapidly accelerating Western rare-earth production. We're building a world-class team to solve this crisis.
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 hourly pay.
Insurance provided.
Support relocating to the Bay area.
Company-provided lunch daily.
J1 Visa sponsorship available if needed.