Materials Engineering Intern (Summer 2027)

About this role

<h2 data-renderer-start-pos="9649"></h2> <h2 data-renderer-start-pos="9649"><strong data-renderer-mark="true">MATERIALS ENGINEERING INTERN (SUMMER 2027)&nbsp;</strong></h2> <h2 id="Senior-Mechanical-Engineer" data-renderer-start-pos="9649"></h2> <p>Freeform builds AI-native manufacturing systems that unify software, hardware, and physics to produce industrial-scale parts at the speed of human ideation. By treating manufacturing as a single integrated system, we unlock a new era of innovation where complex hardware is designed, built, and scaled without limits.</p> <p>As a Materials Engineering Intern at Freeform, you will help establish and refine materials testing infrastructure and best practices for some of the world's most advanced metal 3D printing systems. You will work closely with experienced engineers to study material behavior within the printing process, building a foundational understanding of metals characterization and applying those insights to support materials testing and process improvement. You'll collaborate with process development, mechanical, and simulation engineers to analyze material property data and post-print characteristics, contributing to rapid iteration and continuous improvement of the printing technology.</p> <p>3D printing experience is not required to be successful here, we look for smart, motivated, collaborative engineers who love solving hard problems and creating amazing technology!</p> <p><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sXfG6ssZ190?feature=shared" width="560" height="315"></iframe></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Responsibilities:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Assist the Materials Engineering team in operating equipment to measure material properties such as tensile strength, surface roughness, and microstructure</li> <li>Support generation and tracking of quality metrics for printed customer parts such as dimensional accuracy, defect distribution, and surface roughness</li> <li>Organize, analyze, and help interpret materials data, and assist in presenting key findings</li> <li>Assist in developing and optimizing metallurgical sample preparation techniques such as cutting, grinding, polishing, acid etching, and optical microscopy</li> <li>Support the process development team in tying materials findings into upstream printing process improvements</li> <li>Help establish and refine procedures for measuring and quantifying material quality</li> </ul> <p><strong>Basic Qualifications:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Currently pursuing Bachelor's degree in materials science, materials engineering, metallurgy, mechanical engineering, or similar discipline</li> <li>Experience with experimental design and statistical data analysis</li> <li>Strong data analysis skills and ability to interpret important information from extremely large data sets</li> </ul> <p><strong>Nice to Have:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Undergraduate research experience in materials science, metallurgy, or mechanical engineering</li> <li>Exposure to metallurgical sample preparation such as cutting, grinding, polishing, acid etching, and optical microscopy</li> <li>Experience with metal additive manufacturing or laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) processes</li> <li>Experience operating materials characterization equipment (SEM, Instron, etc.)</li> <li>Experience with statistical data analysis software such as R, JMP, or Minitab</li> <li>Passion for improving the state of metal 3D printing</li> <li>Comfortable working in fast-paced, ambiguous environments and iterating quickly (comfortable building the plane as we fly it)</li> <li>Strong communicator who collaborates across disciplines and proactively seeks support when needed</li> <li>Willing to take ownership of tasks big and small, with a hands-on, problem-solving mindset</li> <li>Strong work ethic with a refuse-to-fail mindset</li> <li>Demonstrated indicators of excellence and/or achieving success against adversity (i.e. top academic performance, leadership in engineering clubs, first-generation college student, or other examples of resilience and achievement)</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong><span data-contrast="none">Location:</span></strong><span data-ccp-props="{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"335559738":240,"335559739":240}">&nbsp;</span></p> <ul> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="4" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"> <p>Based in Hawthorne, our vertically integrated facility brings technology development, R&amp;D, and production together under one roof. We operate at the center of LA’s deep tech ecosystem, surrounded by some of the most ambitious hardware innovation happening anywhere in the country.</p> <span data-teams="true"><span id="message-body-1771454273221" class="fui-ChatMessage__body r7802u9 ___vfhe6q0 f10pi13n ftqa4ok f2hkw1w f8hki3x f1d2448m f1bjia2o ffh67wi f1j6vpng f1pniga2 f987i1v f1ffjurs f15bsgw9 f14e48fq f18yb2kv fd6o370 ffwy5si f3znvyf f57olzd f4stah7 f480a47 fs1por5 fk6fouc figsok6 fkhj508 f19n0e5 f9ijwd5 ffzz00n f1ozlkrg f1o0qvyv f9ggezi f1xp5gbu f150uoa4 ffyari3 f16xq7d1 fo7qwa0 fxowb0n f11ghf3q f13aoclr flypziy f10kwr27 fquw1qa fftr39l f13lathq f15hsm81 f2ss68y ffb60jq f8nuap2 f13nk4fk f7jacry fq08z5q fd9af6s fr74w9q fcl9uv6 f13sm7pj f1u6qqly f16wpxbl faim3u9 f6cs3qo fa2w2z3 fd39nx6 f10gn8j9 frcqmxy f1w9ws4k f1ddxkqj fd10euv fvuz61 f1nbc6gw"><span id="content-1771454273221" class="fui-Primitive ___11tzqds f1oy3dpc f89hs3r fqtknz5 fyvcxda"></span></span></span></li> <li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="4" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1