Materials Analysis Engineer – Computational and Modeling Focus

About Vulcan Elements

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.

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

Qualifications

• 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.

Desired Skills

• 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.