Internship: Engineer Researcher- Polymers
Job Description
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado, is the nation's primary laboratory for research, development and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. The National Bioenergy Center at NREL has an opening for a full-time Undergraduate Intern within the Chemical and Material Process Development group.
The National Bioenergy Center is conducting research to improve biomass conversion to fuels and chemicals. The intern will assist scientific staff in the development and execution of laboratory experiments related to the separation and chemical characterization of chemical products from biomass catalytic pyrolysis, including the preparation of anode carbon material for lithium and sodium ion batteries.
Primary duties include:
- Conduct experiments to convert carbon materials into graphite and hard carbon including developing heating sequences and characterizing materials.
- Measure the adsorption and desorption of chemical products from thermal processes.
- Apply state-of-the-art experimental tools to analyze advanced carbon materials (XRD, Raman, FTIR, TGA)
- Effectively communicate and collaborate with researchers and engineers operating relevant experimental systems in order to define the requirements of the experiments/simulations required to obtain necessary data and provide meaningful interpretation of the results
- Support dissemination of knowledge through publications in technical journals and presentations at conferences, symposia, and review meetings.
The successful candidate will have the following skills and experience:
- Demonstrated experience in chemical reactions and chemical analysis.
- Demonstrated experience with handling liquid reactions and gas flows.
- Experience in performing advanced analytical analysis applied to chemical and material characterization.
- Demonstrated ability to apply engineering knowledge to experimental setups, computational simulations and data analysis.
- Ability to work in teams and to deliver high-quality results within aggressive timelines.
- Excellent technical writing, interpersonal, and communication skills.
- Troubleshooting and problem-solving.
- Dedication to a safe and clean work environment.