Materials Analysis Engineer – Computational and Modeling Focus

Vulcan Elements • Research Triangle Park, NC

20h

About The Position

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets for a secure, resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resiliency, we serve critical industries such as defense, aerospace, and automotive powering a high-technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence and Transparency.
As a Materials Analysis Engineer – Computational and Modeling Focus, you will utilize modeling and computational tools to support the development and optimization of materials and processes for rare-earth permanent magnet manufacturing. You will routinely work as part of cross-functional teams to support R&D and manufacturing operations, applying simulation and analysis techniques to solve complex materials engineering challenges.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in materials science, materials engineering, or metallurgy. Closely related fields may be considered for exceptional candidates.
• Solid understanding of fundamental materials properties, behavior, diffusion, and phase transformations.
• Demonstrated experience using one or more of the following for materials analysis or design simulations: atomic simulations, phase field modeling, density functional theory, or finite element analysis.
• Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities.

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on experience with materials analytical methods such as electron microscopy, metallography, and chemical analysis.
• Experience using machine learning tools for analysis and exploration of material properties.
• Experience applying materials and process modeling in a manufacturing or industrial setting.
• Familiarity with a variety of analyses and packages within ANSYS.
• Experience performing density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute computational models and simulations to support materials development and process optimization, including atomic simulations, phase field modeling, density functional theory (DFT), and finite element analysis (FEA).
• Apply materials and process modeling techniques to evaluate and improve manufacturing processes for NdFeB permanent magnets.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams across R&D, manufacturing, and quality to translate modeling insights into actionable process improvements.
• Perform and interpret results from materials analytical methods such as electron microscopy, metallography, and chemical analysis to validate and inform computational models.
• Leverage machine learning tools and data-driven approaches for the analysis and exploration of material properties and process–property relationships.
• Develop and maintain simulation workflows using tools such as ANSYS and other relevant computational packages.
• Communicate findings through technical reports, presentations, and publications as appropriate.
• Stay current with advances in computational materials science and identify opportunities to apply emerging methods to company objectives.
• Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level