Vulcan Elements
R&D Materials & Process Engineer
About this role
Vulcan Elements seeks an R&D Materials & Process Engineer to develop and scale rare-earth permanent magnet manufacturing, focusing on sintered NdFeB powder metallurgy processes from lab to commercial production. You'll optimize critical processing steps, conduct design-of-experiments work, and bridge research innovations with factory-scale operations in support of defense and aerospace applications.
What you'll do
- Design and refine core processing steps including strip casting, hydrogen decrepitation, jet milling, and press parameters to optimize throughput, yield, and magnetic properties
- Develop and fine-tune vacuum sintering thermal profiles to achieve desired microstructural features and magnetic performance
- Conduct design-of-experiments to improve magnetic performance, process throughput, yield, and cost
- Perform root-cause failure analysis to eliminate processing defects and improve reliability
- Scale validated experimental processes from lab and pilot-scale equipment to full commercial production lines
- Collaborate with production and equipment engineering teams to modify tooling or specify requirements for next-generation processing equipment
What they're looking for
- Powder metallurgy process engineering
- Vacuum thermal processing and sintering optimization
- Metal powder pressing and handling
- Magnetic testing equipment operation (hysteresisgraph, pulsed field magnetometry)
- Material characterization tools (SEM/EDS, XRD, particle size analysis)
- Design of Experiments (DOE) and Six Sigma methodologies
- Statistical analysis tools (Python, JMP)
- Industrial equipment troubleshooting and optimization
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Vulcan Elements
Vulcan Elements manufactures rare-earth magnets for defense and aerospace applications, with a focus on American production and advanced processing capabilities. The company is hiring materials engineers, process specialists, mechanical engineers, safety professionals, and network engineers to support manufacturing operations, facility expansion, and process optimization.
View all jobs at Vulcan ElementsLikely interview questions
- Walk us through your experience optimizing vacuum sintering profiles—what parameters did you adjust and how did you measure success?
- Describe a time you led a DOE project in a manufacturing environment. What was the outcome and how did you implement the findings at scale?