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 soonPreferred

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 analysisCompensation & Benefits

Competitive hourly pay.

Insurance provided.

Support relocating to the Bay area.

Company-provided lunch daily.

J1 Visa sponsorship available if needed.